18 Minutes in Heaven
by CallaBunny
Summary: Sang and Luke have some quality baking time after school one day.
1. 18 Minutes in Heaven

"How many more minutes?"

"Luke, you literally just put the cookies in the oven, silly," I grinned at him fondly from my perch on the countertop. What a silly boy.

"I say we give them five minutes, and then check again," Luke nodded his head decisively from his kneeling position in front of the oven. The oven light was on, and his narrowed eyes were focused so intently on the cookie dough blobs inside, I was surprised they didn't finish baking on command.

"Or we can work on homework for the full eighteen minutes the cookies are supposed to bake, _then_ check again?" I offered, swinging my legs back and forth underneath the countertop.

"Nah," Luke immediately dismissed my suggestion, standing up from the floor and turning towards me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "But I can think of something else we can do for eighteen minutes."

"We promised Kota we'd do homework as soon as we got to your house, Luke!" I tried to look stern, but I was too busy fighting off a giggle as I watched Luke saunter towards me with an extra sway in his hips. After an incredibly exaggerated hip movement, I gave in and cracked up with giggles. "What are you doing, Always?"

"I'm seducing you, Cupcake," Luke said with a deep voice, wiggling his eyebrows at me. Once he reached the counter, I swung my legs around his hips and pulled him against me. "Is it working?"

"Hmm," I pretended to look like I was debating it, rubbing my chin a few times for good measure before blinking up at Luke innocently. "I'm not sure."

"Not sure?" Luke raised an eyebrow while smiling at the challenge. He stepped closer to me, pulling my body slowly toward him on the counter until we were pressed flush against each other. He purposely lowered his voice an octave as he growled, "Well maybe I can convince you."

I giggled and pecked Luke's cheek as he turned around and grabbed my thighs.

"Hop on, sweetheart! Your Love Shack awaits," Luke announced, lightly smacking my thigh when I hadn't moved yet. With a grin, I hopped on Luke's back and he took off down the hallway before climbing the steps with ease.

"Where is this love shack, Sir Lucien?" I asked with a giggle, blowing his hair out of my face.

"In a magical land, my lady," he responded, opening the door to his room and trotting inside. "A land where day-dreams come true and North allows chocolate for every meal!"

"Oh wow, I didn't think such a place was possible!" I gasped dramatically, laughing as Luke collapsed on his bed which caused me to let go of him.

"It's very possible, Lady Sang," Luke said as he positioned himself on his side, angling one arm to hold his head up. I mirrored his pose, but used one foot to nudge against his.

"And where is this so called 'seduction,' Sir Lucien?" I asked softly, looking him in the eye.

"The good lady sure seems ready to be rid of her virtue!" Luke announced to the room as if we had an audience.

"Who needs virtue when you can have a handsome knight?" I asked playfully, winking at him.

This seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as Luke's face completely shut down in front of me. I was momentarily shocked at how emotionless his face became before he looked down at the bedspread.

"Luke?" I asked, worried I'd said something wrong. "What's wrong?"

Was I too forward? Did it turn him off?

"Luke?" I asked again when he didn't look up. Sliding closer, I gently placed my hand on his forearm that was playing with a thread on the comforter.

"I'm sorry, Sang," he whispered, still not looking up at me.

"What is it?" I asked softly. "Did I do something wrong."

"No," Luke quickly shook his head, finally looking up at me. His eyes had lost their mischievous sparkle and he looked pained. "I just...I just…I just wish I still had my virtue."

"Your virtue?" I repeated, my eyebrows skyrocketing. "Luke, you know I was just playing around-"

"I just hate that I can't give you that, Sang," Luke cut me off, his expression regretful. "I wish I was still a virgin."

"Luke, no!" I shook my head and gave his arm a gentle squeeze, ignoring the painful squeeze of my heart at the vocal confirmation that he's been that far with girls before me. "I'm serious. Please don't regret that."

"Why shouldn't I?" He asked in a pained voice. "I love you more than anything, and I can't even give that to you."

"I don't expect you to, Always," I assured him, rubbing my hand up and down his arm that was still playing with the thread. "You had a life before me, I understand that. What you've given me now, your heart, is more than I could've ever hoped for."

"But Sang," Luke huffed, pushing off the mattress and moving to sit indian style in front of me. I mirrored his position again, but he avoided my eyes. "You're so pure and giving everything to us. In a weird way, I envy Kota and the guys who are still virgins."

"You envy them?" I asked, confused. I thought we'd gotten a handle on most of the jealousy issues that I could see. Besides, not many teenage boys would say they envied a virgin.

"Because they get to experience their first time with you," Luke whispered, looking at his lap. "With someone they love. And they get to give you themselves. All of themselves."

His confession was burning my heart, and I knew I needed to put a stop to this before it got out of control.

"Luke, look at me," I cupped his cheek and pulled his gaze back to mine. "I wasn't going to bring this up, because it doesn't matter. Honestly, it doesn't, but let me explain something. Hypothetically, let's say you've slept with five girls before me-"

"What?" Luke squeaked out, and I blinked at him before giggling at the ridiculously high voice he just achieved.

"Did you just squeak?" I laughed, causing Luke to pout at me.

"Five? Who told you five?" Luke frowned down at me, re-crossing his legs and grabbing my hips to slide me closer to him. I scooted a little more until our knees touched.

"Nobody, I just made up a number," I answered honestly. "I'm just using it as an example to make my point!"

"Well, I haven't slept with five," Luke answered, still frowning. He had that guilty expression again, and I really wanted to make him understand that this didn't matter to me.

"Luke, it doesn't matter," I repeated in a whisper, looking him in the eye. "You could've slept with a thousand women, and the only thing I'd worry about was STDs and your emotional wellbeing."

"How, Sang?" Luke asked in disbelief.

"Because it was before me," I shrugged. "If I got jealous of girls you'd been with _before_ me, how can I expect you guys to be okay with sharing me at the same time?"

"It's different, Sang," Luke started shaking his head, but I just sighed.

"We're getting off my point," I cut him off. "Let's just say that you slept with five girls-"

"One," Luke interrupted me quietly, looking the shyest I've ever seen him. "I slept with one."

"Okay," I said back just as quietly. "Let's say that you slept with one girl before me. Then, and this is completely hypothetical, let's say I lose my virginity to Silas. Then I sleep with Kota. Then Victor. Then I sleep with you. That means I slept with three guys before you. Would that matter to you? Would that stop you from loving me or wanting to be with me?"

"No, Sang, but it's still _different,"_ Luke sighed, running a hand through his hair. His blonde locks fell down to frame his face, and I thought he looked beautiful. "I didn't love that girl."

"If anything, that makes me feel better, Always," I said, unable to stop a small smile from forming. "If you loved another girl, before me or not, then I might not be able to stop myself from Hulking Out."

"Hulking Out?" Luke laughed deeply, leaning back and grabbing his stomach. It was a relief to see him laugh again during such a serious talk. Luke was a ray of sunshine; my own personal sugar high. Seeing my boys' different sides during alone time with them has always been something I treasured, but Luke deserves to always have a smile on his face. "Sang, I can't picture you hurting a flower, let alone another girl."

"Hey, I can get mad if one of my men is involved!" I stuck my tongue out at him, then abruptly squealed and leaned back when Luke reached out to pinch it.

"Your men, huh?" He smirked, leaning back on his hands. His chest was puffed out like a proud pidgeon and I giggled before scooting closer to him.

"I love you, Luke," I whispered, leaning against his chest and gently planting my lips against his. He responded right away with a chaste, closed-mouth kiss that was as sweet as a cupcake.

"I love you, Sang," Luke murmured against my lips, closing his eyes. We had some time before North got home, and I wanted to make the most of it. Closing my eyes, I traced my tongue playfully along his lower lip. Luke immediately opened his mouth and slid his tongue across mine. French kissing still freaked me out a little bit, despite how much I've done it now, but at the same time I found the entire act so erotic. It made my belly tingle, and my hands impulsively tangled themselves in Luke's hair as a reaction.

"You're so sweet, Sang," Luke whispered, breaking away from my lips. I took the opportunity to kiss along his jaw and down his neck, sliding my legs onto each side of his lap so I was straddling him on the bed. "You taste like strawberries."

"New lipgloss from Gabriel," I muttered against his skin, nibbling on the skin between his neck and shoulder lightly. He groaned in response, and his grip on my hips tightened.

"Remind me to thank him later," Luke chuckled, grabbing the sides of my face and pulling me away from his neck. I looked up into his darkening eyes and couldn't hold back a pout, my gaze flickering back to his neck longingly.

"Luke…." I whispered, trying to move my head out of his hold and back to his delicious skin. He just shook his head with a small grin and leaned in towards my ear.

"Let me take care of you, Cupcake," Luke said in a slightly husky voice as his lips tickled my ear. With a quick nip to my earlobe, he flipped me over on my back until his body hovered over mine. "Are you sure you're not made of chocolate? Because I want to devour you."

"Luke," I laughed, playfully shoving his shoulder.

My giggles were cut off by his lips as they molded to mine in a hot, open-mouthed kiss. I couldn't hold back a mewl as his tongue caressed mine and his thumbs started rubbing small circles on the skin between my shirt and shorts. I was completely surrounded by the smell of vanilla, and my nose was in heaven.

In some far, far away corner of my mind I was aware that the Earth was still revolving around the Sun, gravity kept us from floating off into Space, and cookies were currently baking in the oven. None of this existed to me as Luke's arms held me tight against him, though. As his lips began their tortuous path down my neck, I felt like the Earth revolved around us. As his hands delicately lifted my shirt up and over my head while his lips continued their assault down my chest and to my stomach, I was positive we were floating somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn. And when Luke's tongue circled my belly button once, twice, then slipped inside, I had no idea what cookies were.

My hands were tangled in Luke's hair, but they couldn't decide if they wanted to push his sinful tongue lower or pull his lips back up to mine. After a mental tug-of-war, I tugged his locks and Luke crawled his way up my body with more open-mouthed kisses.

"I could spend forever getting to know your body, Sang," Luke murmured as he licked his way up my neck. I moaned at the contact, arching up into his hold.

"You're licking me like I've seen you lick icing off a cupcake, Luke!" I giggled when a lick got particularly strong.

"Mmm, icing on my Cupcake," Luke hummed happily. The vibration from his lips sent sparks down my spine, and I fidgeted.

"Luke," I whispered, running my fingers through his hair and hitching an ankle over his right leg. "Kiss me."

"Gladly," Luke whispered back, leaning towards my face with his beautiful grin. His lips touched mine again, and my tongue immediately darted out to trace his lower lip again. He opened right away, and our tongues started a playful fight for dominance.

I lost myself again in the kiss, in Luke, in his vanilla scent that made me feel warm and fuzzy. Kota's order to finish our homework before dinner was long gone. I was completely entranced by the feel of Luke's lips dancing with mine. I heard angels' singing and bells ringing, celebrating the love I felt wanting to burst out of my heart.

Only those weren't bells.

They were the smoke alarm.

And I couldn't smell Luke's vanilla scent anymore.

It was covered by the smell of something burning.

And those definitely weren't angels.

" _Who the fuck let you and Sang Baby make cookies, Luke? I told you to give her a banana, you idiot!"_ I heard my North Star bellow from the floor below us, his deep voice being heard easily over the sound of the smoke alarm. " _And why does it look like a fucking bomb went off in here? What is this shit?"_

"North is home!" I grinned at Luke, happy to have another one of my boys with me.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Consider this chapter a "test run." If there's interest, I'll turn this into a full length fanfic. If not, I'll just leave it as a one-shot. Let me know if you're interested in reading more or just leaving as is! Thank you.**


	2. Nurse Sang

**A/N: Bonus one-shot! :)**

"I really do not agree with this, Silas," North grumbled from his spot on the porch steps. I rolled my eyes.

"North, you can say it one hundred different ways, man, but she's going to do it," Silas chuckled from beside me. I beamed at him and adjusted my grip on the baseball bat.

"Yes, North Star. Just because you stopped cursing or huffing and puffing doesn't mean I'm going to let you stop my fun," I smiled at him before turning back to Silas excitedly. "Can we start now?"

" _Aggele_ , you're going to need to stop bouncing around," Silas laughed, taking a few steps away from me as we both heard North grunt. "Are you ready?"

"Yes!" I practically shouted, crouching a little like he showed me and hiking up my grip. Silas walked further away to a bucket sitting in the grass.

"I still think she should start with T-Ball," North argued stubbornly. I turned and smiled at him fondly, shaking my head. "What, Sang baby? Even Silas and I started out with T-Ball!"

"I'm not four years old, North," I gave him a stern look before turning back to my Superman. "Ready!"

"I'm going to throw the ball underhand first, _Aggele_ ," Silas warned me. "It'll arch up a bit, then come back down in front of you. Keep your eye on it, and don't swing too early. I know how impatient you are."

"Just throw the ball, Silas!" I grinned, wiggling the bat behind me. I placed my feet like Silas instructed and focused all of my attention on the ball in his hand. This would usually be difficult for me, with two handsome boys that I would much rather be looking at, but I was anxious to give baseball a try and I wanted them to be proud of me.

The bat was wooden and smooth beneath my touch, but that didn't stop North from making me wear batting gloves to avoid splinters.

I'm pretty sure that's not the actual purpose of real batting gloves.

The gloves were light pink. Of course. While I love how much the boys take my favorite color into consideration, sometimes it makes me feel incredibly girly next to them. I already feel girly enough, considering how masculine they all are. At times I feel like I should be embarrassed, but each boy has their own color, too.

I also have enough pink now to be Pepto's mascot.

Then again, North had adamantly tried to make me wear his motorcycle helmet for this, so I suppose I was getting off lightly with just the gloves.

"Okay, _Aggele_. Eyes on the ball!" Silas pulled his arm back before bringing it forward and tossing the baseball towards me. It soared through the air, and I wiggled a bit in anticipation. My grip tightened on the bat, and I tried to mimic what Silas taught me as the ball came closer. I took a step forward while bringing the bat around in a slow swing.

 _Woosh._

I missed.

"Oh," I frowned, glaring at the ball as it rolled back towards me after bouncing off the fence.

"Relax, _Aggele_ ," Silas looked at me, his eyes glinting with amusement that made my frown falter. "It was your first swing. You'll get the hang of it."

"Or you can stop now, and we can go back inside," North grumbled. He was still slumped against the porch steps in Nathan's backyard, looking like his car broke down. "We can watch _The Rookie_ , and you can get your fill of baseball."

"North Star, don't you wanna play, too?" I asked, pointedly ignoring his suggestion. He's always playing some form of sports with Silas, I was surprised he was sitting out instead of joining us.

"Does it mean I can take your spot, and you'll sit out?" North asked hopefully. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Fine, don't play," I tilted my chin up and turned back to Silas. He picked another ball out of the bucket next to him, and I got my stance ready.

"Here we go, _Aggele_ ," Silas smiled, throwing the ball up. I fidgeted in anticipation again, kept my eye on the ball, and tried to swing faster.

Nothing.

The stupid ball hit off the fence again and rolled back to me mockingly.

I heard Silas's deep laughter and turned to see even North cracking a smile.

"What?" I asked self consciously, my finger finding its way to my lip. I didn't see anything funny happen. Were they laughing at me? Was I that bad at baseball?

"Nothing, Sang. Don't look so scared," Silas said through chuckles as he stopped laughing.

"You just do the cutest wiggle with your ass before you swing," North smirked, his eyes flicking down before his smirk widened.

"What?" I exclaimed, my eyes bugging out. "I do not!"

"Yes, you do, _Aggele_ ," Silas laughed, pulling another ball out of the bucket.

"No, I was just swaying back and forth to keep on the balls of my feet, like you showed me!" I reasoned.

"You did that, too, Aggele. But we're talking about when the ball was in the air and before you swung. You wiggled your pretty little ass both times," Silas grinned widely.

"Like a little dog waiting for a treat," North snorted, causing me to huff at them.

"Throw another one, Silas!" I ordered, cutting off their teasing.

"Yes, ma'am," Silas nodded, getting in position. I tightened my grip on the bat, absolutely determined to hit the ball this time. I zoned in on the ball and tried to forget everything else going on, including Silas's smirk as he flipped the ball over in his hand.

With a wink, he tossed the ball towards me and I grudgingly noticed that my hips were wiggling a bit as I waited for the ball to get closer. Pulling back the bat and stepping forward, I swung with every bit of strength I had in me. An embarrassing grunt escaped my lips, but I was too busy concentrating on that stupid ball to really care.

It was all worth it when I felt the bat vibrate in my hands and heard a satisfying _clunk._

I was so happy that I'd made contact with the ball that my hands loosened their grip as I finished the swing. My body jolted forward with the extra momentum, but I was able to stop after a quick stumble.

I wish I could say the same for the bat.

I watched in dawning horror as the bat flew out of my hands and rotated in the air a couple times before finding its target.

There was another _clunk._

That one didn't feel nearly as satisfying..

"North!" Silas bellowed from the grass a dozen feet in front of me. "γαμώ!"

I stood frozen in the grass as Silas ran towards an unmoving North who was lying on the porch steps.

"Oh my god," I whispered frantically, getting my butt into gear and racing towards the boys.

"North. Hey! Wake up, man," Silas barked, lightly slapping North's face as he leaned over him. I'm not sure if slapping was very helpful at the moment, but I'm not a doctor.

"North!" I squeaked, kneeling down on his other side. My fingers were shaking as they hovered over his shoulder. "Is he okay, Silas? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

"Relax, Sang," Silas cut me off and put his hands under North's shoulders, lifting his upper body off the ground. "Greenline Dr. Green and see if he can get here, and open the door for me, please."

"Okay!" I answered quickly, fumbling my phone out of my bra and running towards the door. Silas was dragging North behind me as I opened both the door and Dr. Green's app. I couldn't see North's face from here, but his head was lolled to the side and his body was limp. My heart squeezed painfully as Silas pulled him through the doorway.

"Nathan!" Silas bellowed into the house as Dr. Green's phone rang a second time.

"Pick up, Dr. Sean! Pick up," I mumbled as I raced behind Silas and North into the living room where Silas heaved North onto the couch. I cringed when I saw the huge, red knot on the left side of North's forehead.

I'd done that.

I hurt somebody that I love.

"Pookie!" Dr. Green interrupted my thoughts as he answered the call. "Everything alright, sweetie?"

"Dr. Sean! North's been hurt!" I exclaimed over the lump in my throat. "Please hurry, we're at Nathan's. I don't know what to-"

"Relax, Sang," Dr. Green interrupted me calmly, his voice losing any teasing. "I'm heading to my car right now. What happened? Is he bleeding? Concious?"

"He's not conscious, Dr. Sean!" I answered, my heartbeat speeding up as I looked at North passed out on the couch. Silas had disappeared into the kitchen, and I heard him yelling for Nathan again. "I'm so sorry. I hit him with a baseball bat!"

"You hit him with a baseball bat?" Dr. Green's voice repeated in disbelief after a short pause. "I'm sorry. Did I hear you correctly, Pookie?"

"Yes, but it was an accident!" I cried, hesitantly perching myself on the couch next to North's head. I gingerly touched his cheek, willing him to be okay. "I promise, I didn't mean to hurt him. We were just-"

"It's okay, Sang. Calm down," Dr. Green's soothing voice came through the phone, and I took a deep breath but didn't lose any of the tension in my shoulders. "What's important now is to get North to wake up. Where did the baseball bat hit him? Is it a head injury?"

"Yes, it hit his head," I whispered back, gently stroking North's hair away from the injury. It was a big, angry looking lump that seemed alien on his handsome face. I hated it.

" _Aggele,_ move over a little," Silas instructed as he hurried back into the room. He had a big cup in his hand and Nathan was following quickly on his heels.

"Peanut, what-oh shit!" Nathan cursed when he noticed the state North was in. My eyes watered as I saw both boys' worried expressions, but I tried to stop myself from crumbling into a sobbing mess and focused on what Dr. Green was rambling about on the phone.

"-then make sure he doesn't move, if possible. Head injuries are incredibly complex, and we may not know what we're dealing with right away," Dr. Green continued when I tuned back into his voice.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Sean," I choked as I scooted back a little from North as Silas told me to. Nathan stuck a towel under North's head, then stepped back and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I missed everything you just said."

"Don't worry, Sang. I'm almost there," Dr. Green answered. "I was mostly trying to distract you, anyways. Who else is there with you?"

As Nathan rubbed my shoulder, Silas took the cup in his hand and turned it upside down over North. Water splashed over his face, and he surged forward on the couch in a furious, spluttering mess. But he was awake!

"What the fuck, Si!" North roared when he saw Silas standing over him. Gasping, North wiped the water off his face before glaring at us. "Why did you-oh fuck!"

North bent over on the couch and grasped his head with both hands. I rushed closer and sat next to him, putting an arm around his back.

"Calm down, North," Silas ordered, putting his hand on North's other shoulder. "You've got a head injury. You shouldn't be moving at all right now."

"North, I'm so sorry," I mumbled, rubbing his arm with my other hand. "I accidentally let go of the baseball bat…."

"Shit, Sang baby," North grumbled, rubbing his fingers over his temple and taking notice of the lump.

"Doc?" Nathan asked behind me, making me realize I'd forgotten about the phone call. "Yeah, they're okay. She dropped the phone when he woke up. How far out are you?"

Nathan continued talking to Doc, while Silas sat by North and kept looking at him with concern. I felt so guilty for causing North's pain and everyone's worry. Gabriel was right to nickname me Trouble.

"Fuck, get me some ice," North ordered through clenched teeth, his eyes squeezed shut tightly. "And painkillers."

"Okay!" I squeaked while jumping off of the couch, but Silas just motioned for me to sit back down as Nathan and him headed for the kitchen. I hesitated before perching back on the sofa next to North.

"I'm so sorry, North Star," I whispered, slowly rubbing my hand up and down his back.

"Stop apologizing, Sang Baby," North sighed, eyes still closed. "You didn't do it on purpose. Just promise me you'll never play baseball again."

"No more baseball," I agreed quickly, before remembering how fun it was to hit the ball. "At least not unless everyone is wearing a helmet."

North just grunted in response.

Silas rounded the corner with a bag of ice in one hand and a pill bottle in the other. He was moving so quickly on his feet, I zoned out for a moment and just watched him. I'd never seen Silas move so fast unless he was doing hours.

Silas was speaking to North in Greek, and North was grumbling back to him. I had no idea what they were saying, so I just sat there and tried to be comforting for North as we waited.

"North?" The front door slammed open, and I almost cried in relief at seeing Dr. Sean there. He had a big, red bag with him as he hustled over to us. "Fill me in, North."

"Killer headache. Lights seem brighter, and everything is louder. Honestly, I've had worse hangovers. Already took four advil," North muttered to Dr. Sean, still rubbing his temples with both hands. I trailed my hand in a circle on his lower back.

"First off, that is way above the recommended dose," Dr. Sean rolled his eyes in exasperation, and I took that as a good sign. Dr. Sean brought out a light stick and shined it in North's eyes, then he gingerly touched the bump as North winced.

"Is he going to be okay, Dr. Sean?" I asked softly while looking at North, trying to keep my voice quieter for him. I saw Dr. Green move in the corner of my eye and turned to see him looking at me. He smiled before putting the light stick back in his bag.

"I think there's only one thing that will heal him, Pookie," Dr. Sean grinned at me, zipping up the bag.

"What, painkillers?" I asked, looking at the bottle in North's hand. "More ice?"

"No no, but those will definitely help," Dr. Sean beamed. "However, I would prescribe a kiss for my patient."

"A kiss?" I let out a surprised giggle, looking at North to see him rolling his eyes. "Are you going to kiss him, Dr. Sean?"

"Oh fuck no," North grunted, leaning back on the couch and closing his eyes.

"As much as I'm sure North would appreciate that, everyone knows the best healing kisses come from nurses," Dr. Sean winked at me, standing up with his bag. "Nurse Sang?"

I smiled at Dr. Sean before looking back at North resting his eyes on the couch. His hands were place on his stomach now, and it looked like he was trying hard to keep his breathing even. I scooted closer a bit and leaned forward, planting a gentle kiss on the bump.

North cracked one eye open as I leaned back and he said, "You missed. My lips are down here."

His face was decidedly grumpy, but I think this is the closest I've even seen North to pouting.

"I was kissing your boo-boo, North," I smiled, sitting back on my heels. He snorted as I looked over to see that Dr. Sean and Silas had left the room. Nathan was still missing, and I wondered where they went off to.

"Boo-boo? You're lucky you're cute," North sighed, grabbing a pillow from his other side and wedging it between his head and the couch. "If anyone else said that, they'd be the one unconcious."

"I know you're mad at me, North," I told him, picking up one of his hands and weaving my fingers through it. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"I'm not mad, Sang baby," North opened his eyes to look straight at me. "It was an accident. The only way I'd be mad was if you'd gotten hurt after I asked you not to play."

"I'm going to get hurt sometimes, North," I answered, frowning a bit at him. "Even during times when we're having fun, like batting practice."

"And I'm going to get mad when it happens," North said so matter-of-factly, I had to smile. "Anyways, how's Silas doing?"

"Oh, he's okay," I said, a little confused. "He was terribly worried about you, but I think he's calmed down now. He kept cursing in Greek. At least I think it was curse words."

"Yeah, but how's his shoulder?" North muttered, leaning back on the couch and looking back at me with tired eyes. They looked so similar to his bedroom eyes, that I had to take a moment to breath and let my brain catch up.

"His shoulder?" I breathed out, licking my lips. North, reading my reaction as all the boys seemed to have a gift for, had a sly smirk slide onto his face.

"Yeah, baby. Before I was knocked out, I remember seeing the ball hit him in the shoulder," he answered casually. My brain finally caught up to the conversation.

"I hit him?" I yelled, my jaw dropping slightly as I flew off the couch.

"Ouch," North cringed, hands flying up to his head. "Not so loud, baby."

"Silas!" I called as loudly as I could without squeaking, rushing out of the room and towards the kitchen. Turning the corner, I saw Silas sitting shirtless at the table as Nathan held a bag of ice to his shoulder and Dr. Sean handed him a glass of water and pills. My stomach clenched.

"Pookie, I'm going to need to ask you to go a little easier on our team members," Dr. Sean teased, stepping away from Silas to come envelope me in a hug. I stood there and gaped at Silas's shoulder, where a circular bruise was starting to form. "At this rate, we'll all be out of commision in a few hours."

"Silas!" I yelped from Dr. Sean's embrace, then stopped to clear my throat. "Are you okay, Superman?"

" _Aggele,_ I don't even feel it," Silas shrugged, looking almost bored. Nathan glared at him as he re-adjusted the ice pack, but Silas didn't seem to notice as he unexpectedly beamed at me. "But I'm sure a kiss will make me feel better?"

I looked over him once to make sure he didn't look to be in pain, and maybe to get another glance at his bare torso, then giggled once I realized he felt well enough to joke.

"Pookie, if you keep giggling, I'll have to silence you. The patients need rest," Dr. Sean grinned down at me with a raised eyebrow before letting go of my waist and nudging me towards Silas. "Now go give the patient his medicine."

I inched over to him, and Nathan removed the ice pack. The bruise was turning yellow and puffy, and my smile faltered. As I leaned in to peck it, Silas gently grabbed my cheeks and pulled me towards him.

His lips crashed down on mine, and my eyes flew wide open in surprise. Silas didn't seem to care that I was frozen solid as his hands drifted slowly down my neck and along my arms. After a beat, my eyes drifted closed as I melted into the kiss. Silas's arms wrapped around me as his lips moved sensually against mine, and everything else floated away. Silas's kisses were always so passionate and intense, usually all I could do was try and hold on for the ride.

I felt so small as I climbed up on his lap and one of his hands lowered to my thigh as the other pushed on my lower back. I was flush against him, straddling him in the chair and holding his bare shoulders for support. I belatedly realized the shoulder I was gripping had an injury, but he didn't even flinch as I let go and grabbed his upper arm instead.

Silas deepened the kiss, tracing both my lips with his tongue before plunging it into my mouth. I almost wanted to beg him to slow down because I couldn't keep up, but I just opened my mouth further as he explored every corner. The moans I let out were unintentional and a little embarrassing, but Silas seemed to feed off of them as he groaned in return.

I started to push myself against him, desperate for any sort of friction, and his hands gripped my hips to help me move. Opening my eyes and tilting our heads slightly, I looked around the room and saw that it was deserted.

The boys had gotten comfortable with kissing in front of each other over the past few months, but I'm sure dry humping in the kitchen was toeing the line of acceptable behavior.

I turned my attention fully back to Silas has he nipped my bottom lip, moving his lips against mine in that deliciously European way of his. I had no idea there could be so many different types of kissing.

His tongue entered my mouth again, and all I could do was bring my hands up to tangle in his hair as I sucked on his tongue. His chest rumbled in response against mine, which sent butterflies airborne in my stomach.

"Yes," Silas breathed out as we broke apart, both panting for air. He stilled our hips, and I tucked my head into his neck as his arms surrounded me in a Silas hug. I wanted more, but in the middle of the kitchen while North possibly had a concussion in the next room was not the time for it. "That definitely made me feel better."

 **A/N: There were a few requests for more North...so here you go. :) I originally planned on doing something entirely fun and light-hearted, but then Sang ruined everything by hitting North with her bat. Apparently she can't even go one chapter without causing trouble.**


	3. Perfection

**A/N: I know, apparently I'm not done with one-shots? You're all getting a glimpse into my indecisiveness. Woke up this morning with this idea and it just wouldn't leave my thoughts, so I sat down to write it out.**

 **This one takes place earlier in the timeline, before they get together. :) (Title is Mr. Blackbourne, but it's Sang's POV.)**

Perfection

"I can't do it!" I exclaimed, my voice sounded strangled to my own ears.

"Do you think I allow that kind of attitude on my team, Miss Sorenson?" He asked cooly, looking way too calm for my frazzled state.

"Yes?" I answered hopefully.

"And when have you seen me allow this attitude without it inducing hours?" His voice was strong and steady, like this was part of my lesson.

"Maybe when it's the truth?" I asked softly, trying to distract him from our current activity.

"Never, Miss Sorenson. Never is the correct answer," Mr. Blackbourne corrected me while smoothing down his tie. "You _can_ do this."

"You've said so yourself that I can't lie, Mr. Blackbourne. Does it look like I'm lying?" I pressed, looking straight into his eyes. I'm not sure where this newfound courage was coming from, because I've never kept eye contact with him for this long, but I really needed to make this point.

I really should look into his eyes more often, their soft grey is such an inviting color.

"Do you think me an incompetent teacher, Miss Sorenson?" One brow rose smoothly up, and my eyes tracked the movement.

"I think you're perfect in everything you do," I admitted sincerely, hesitantly looking back into his calculating gaze.

"Is that so?" Mr. Blackbourne asked, his mask slipping for a moment and I saw something flicker there. Surprise? Doubt? Anger? I couldn't tell, but I had to actively think to stop my jaw from dropping.

"You don't think you're perfect?" I asked, my voice laced with shock. I took a step closer to him, letting my arms drop and the violin swung precariously from one hand.

"We're getting distracted from your lesson, Miss Sorenson," his walls slammed back up and that allegedly unflinching control was back.

But now I knew better. It wasn't unflinching.

"Then let's get distracted," I said daringly, my insides starting to tremble from the sudden burst of confidence, and my gaze dropped from his due to nerves.

"Pardon me?" Now it was Mr. Blackbourne's turn to sound shocked, and I risked a glance back up at him. While still calculating, his eyes had widened slightly and I wasn't able to stifle my giggle.

Is this what surprised Mr. Blackbourne looks like?

"May I ask what is so amusing, Miss Sorenson?"

"Mr. Blackbourne...I...you…," I sighed, fighting to somehow form just _one_ sentence to explain what I was thinking without sounding like an idiot. "You're perfect. In everything you do. How you dress. What you say. What you do. Even your hobbies are perfect. I mean...violin? Sailing? Country clubs?"

He just stared back at me in silence, and I wasn't sure what to interpret that to mean, so I continued.

"You never have even one hair out of place," I shrugged, looking over his appearance. "I've never seen you in tennis shoes. Or sandals. Sweats? Out of the question. You're nineteen, but you act like you're thirty. Sometimes it makes me feel so wrong for…."

I trailed off slowly as my brain caught up with my mouth, my cheeks flaring with heat. Had I really almost told Mr. Blackbourne that I found him attractive? That I was crushing on him?

I tried to discreetly fan my face as I took a step back.

"For?" He echoed, and I could feel his gaze on me but my eyes were glued to the floor.

How much longer until the bell rings?

"For…

"You're right, Miss Sorenson," he responded, and I could hear that millimeter smile in his voice. Just barely.

"I am?" I asked, surprised enough to look back up at him. I had been making something up, but he actually thought that was wrong….

"Yes, when you said you cannot lie," he gave me a stern look, and my still flushed cheeks burned further.

"I didn't...I wasn't…" I stumbled over an excuse, but it was just out of reach. "I'm sorry."

"Would you like to tell me what it is you do that you think is wrong?" He questioned, but there was no command in his voice. I exhaled a breath.

"Not particularly, Mr. Blackbourne," my lips pursed as I felt inadequate for denying him something as simple as a thought.

"Maybe at a later time, then," he brushed it off, but his eyes didn't leave my face. He was still trying to figure it out, and I had a feeling this might start to bother him after awhile. I smiled at the idea of somehow ruffling Mr. Blackbourne's feathers.

"Mr. Blackbourne, I really don't feel comfortable playing the violin yet," I admitted, both to change the subject and try to delay him from starting up the lesson again.

"The key word is 'yet,'" he responded, tidying up his notes on the music stand. "You have already improved leaps and bounds in playing simple notes, Miss Sorenson. Trying your first song is bound to be a struggle. Now what's the real cause of your worries today?"

I stared at him blankly for a few moments.

"Playing this song," I answered slowly, wondering where he was going with this.

"You've been distracted all lesson, until you got so frustrated from messing up after not paying attention that you stopped playing completely," Mr. Blackbourne answered, and my gaze returned to the tiled floor. "What's bothering you, Miss Sorenson?"

"Nothing is...bothering me," I denied, shuffling a foot against the tile and watching as some dirt shifted.

"Not a lie, but definitely an evasion," Mr. Blackbourne clucked his tongue, unimpressed. My shoulders tried to straighten further at his disappointment, but I was already standing as tall as possible.

"Is it the boys?" He continued, some authority creeping into his tone.

"It's…," I thought of the boys in their classes, either goofing off or taking excessive notes. Sleeping or speaking to each other with their eyes. Are they thinking about me? A sense of doubt overwhelmed me. "I don't know what to do, Mr. Blackbourne."

I swallowed thickly, feeling the pressure come back. Things had been building up all week, maybe my poor excuse for a violin lesson was just the catalyst.

"Go on, Miss Sorenson," Mr. Blackbourne nodded, instilling a little more courage in me from simply having his attention.

"I don't...I know you said to follow my heart, and to try not to question things," I sighed, shifting my weight to my left leg and starting to twist both hands together in front of me. It didn't help my anxiety. "At least, to not question if things are normal."

"That's correct," Mr. Blackbourne nodded, his wall completely up and I had no idea what he was thinking. Not exactly sure what to say next, I just looked back at him. His eyes were completely focused on mine, and I had every inch of his attention. The realization made my breath catch.

Mr. Blackbourne really was perfect. His eyes were as dark as steel, set above a pair of defined cheekbones. A face that symetrical could only belong to a man as flawless as Mr. Blackbourne. His shorter brown hair was combed back, not a single hair out of place. Was it even possible for hair to deny him?

"Have you been following your heart, Miss Sorenson?" He asked, pulling me out of my venturing thoughts.

"I have," I admitted, thinking back to waking up cuddled between Nathan and Gabriel this morning. Nathan and I woke up to make breakfast, then...I felt another blush as I remembered the kiss we shared.

"And I take it things are going well?" Mr. Blackbourne pressed, his eyes reading my own. I felt like I was holding up a sign to him saying 'I'm an indecisive ho!"

"Very well, actually," I said, moving towards one of the chairs and gently setting my violin in it's case. After closing the latches, I turned back to face him. "Which is why I don't know what to do. I know it's wrong-"

"Miss Sorenson!" Mr. Blackbourne cut me off, pursing his lips. His eyes flashed with annoyance, and I swallowed nervously while taking a step back. "How many times do I have to tell you not to worry about anything being wrong? Does it _feel_ wrong? Or do you just _think_ it is? Not everything is black and white. There's nothing wrong with-"

"-having feelings for seven guys?" I interrupted, almost shrilly, trying not to think too long about the fact it was Mr. Blackbourne that I was interrupting. I couldn't listen to him make excuses for my greedy heart, though, and I was starting to tremble. "There are actually a _lot_ of things wrong with that, Mr. Blackbourne! Like the fact that there are seven of them!"

I was holding both hands behind my back to try and stop the shaking, but tears still welled in my eyes. Mr. Blackbourne seemed to be just as shocked as I was that I interrupted him, because he just stared at me blankly. When I looked closer, I saw his mouth was still open, which just made me feel more ashamed.

"Seven?" He echoed, his voice merely a whisper in the room. Great. He probably thought I was only interested in a few of them. Now he knows I'm a slut.

"Yes," I hung my head, ready to be chastened for letting it go this far. "I promise, I can't help it. Don't see you, Mr. Blackbourne? It's wrong."

When the uncharacteristic silence continued, I glanced up at Mr. Blackbourne to see him looking pained. Now he understood what a bad idea it was to let this continue. I needed to stop all of this.

"The guys have been there for me through everything. They're my first friends, and I know that may be causing my reaction. I just...I can't help it, Sir. I know it's wrong-"

"No!" Mr. Blackbourne burst out, making me jump, but this time he avoided my eyes and looked towards the board. "No, no. You misunderstand."

I waited for him to continue, but he just stared at the board in silence.

"What do I misunderstand?" I asked softly, taking a step towards him until we were only a couple feet apart. "You told me not to worry about being normal, but how can I not when you react like this to me wanting to be with seven guys?"

He winced again, and my heart ached at the rejection. If Mr. Blackbourne, the first one to give me a push in this direction, couldn't accept it then how could the others? I was a freak. The tears continued to well in my eyes, but I took a deep breath and tried to blink them away.

"I promise you are doing nothing wrong," Mr. Blackbourne said, his voice slighter deeper as he squeezed both eyes shut. It was unsettling to see him avoiding eye contact, and it made me feel even more helpless. "Maybe I'm the one who misunderstood."

"You thought," I gulped, gathering more courage to ask what I was fearing. "You thought that I liked fewer of them? That it'd create less of a mess?"

"No, Miss Sorenson," he shook his head and finally looked back at me while clearing his throat. The wall wasn't fully erected, and I could see a sense of despair in his eyes. Once again, my breath caught as I was mesmerized. "I admit that I thought, no, hoped. I hoped that you had feelings for more than seven."

I'm not going to lie. I looked at Mr. Blackbourne like he'd lost his mind, which I was almost positive he did. He wanted me to like _more_ than seven boys? When I was already struggling enough with the Academy boys? Who else did he-

Oh.

I gasped, taking a few steps back and realizing that maybe I'm the one who lost my mind. Was he….

"You?" I asked, feeling my heart beating against its cage but still feeling incredibly stupid for even voicing the possibility that Mr. Blackbourne might want...want... _me._

"Don't worry, Sang. I don't have any expectations. Please still come to me when you run into any issues with the boys. I am always available, and I don't wish for this to cause any unpleasantries between us," Mr. Blackbourne stood taller as he rambled on, but I was still stuck on the facts that he hoped I had feelings for him and he just called me Sang.

"I can assure you that all seven boys will be delighted when you tell them of your feelings," he continued and he offered me a millimeter smile that was lined with hurt, but I saw him closing off into the impenetrable team leader as he re-adjusted his tie for the third time. "I may ask that you wait until break starts so there's enough time-"

"Mr. Blackbourne," I interrupted him for the third time this lesson, and he just blinked back at me. I know a goofy smile was slowly taking over my face, but I simply couldn't do anything to stop it. I didn't want to make things worse, or play with his feelings, but I had an inkling that he wouldn't listen to me if I didn't say this right now. "Earlier, when I was talking about your perfection? I started to say something about feeling wrong."

"Yes, and then your entire face lit up like a cherry," Mr Blackbourne nodded, his face blank. I blushed again, but continued grinning.

"Well, yes. That." I cleared my throat, determined to persevere. Mr. Blackbourne just put himself out there, I could do the same. "I was going to say that sometimes it felt wrong to...to have feelings for someone as perfect and mature as you."

He was staring straight into my eyes as I held my breath. Now I realized how much I'd hurt him when I admitted to only having feelings for seven of the boys, but how could I have known that their leader, my teacher, the man that I rarely see outside of violin lessons and family meetings would want me? Not just as a friend or trainee, but romantically? Now that i think about it, does this mean that Dr. Sean….

Oh my.

I shook of that thought for later, so I could focus on this moment.

We were both silent, waiting for something but I had no idea what. Do I keep talking? Serenade him? Oh gosh, I hope he isn't expecting me to...kiss him. Me, kiss Mr. Blackbourne?

My cheeks flamed hotter as I felt a shiver run down my spine at the idea.

Mr. Blackbourne, as usual, seemed to read every emotion that crossed my face as his steel eyes darkened to a molten charcoal.

"Truly?" He asked, voice surprisingly soft as his feet remained planted two arms lengths away from me. The distance suddenly felt like miles too long.

"Without a doubt in my heart," I responded sincerely, my grin slightly faltering at the seriousness of our situation. My hands continued to shake at the idea of everything I'd just admitted to him.

Nothing could've prepared me for the way his eyes softened as he looked at me. The way his millimeter smile grew into two millimeters, and my heart grew with it. I took another breath as my body seemed to have a mind of its own.

Before I knew it, I'd launched myself into Mr. Blackbourne's arms, surprising us both with the force of it. My arms latched around his neck as his came around my waist. My forehead found a home in the curve of his neck as his arms tightened their grip around me. I breathed in Spring soap, letting it penetrate all of my senses.

As our breathing started to match rhythms and the silence stretched, I realized that we were...hugging.

I was hugging Mr. Blackbourne.

And it was perfect.

 **A/N: LOL, I felt so weird saying "Mr. Blackbourne clucked," but I promise he's not a chicken….**


	4. You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours

Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours

"I wish I could stay, baby," North mumbled into my hair, his strong arms holding me securely against him.

"I'll miss you, too, North Star," I said, smiling against his neck while breathing in his delightfully musky scent. "Be careful."

"I always am," North stated as he pulled away, looking down at me with those deep, brown eyes. His features were scrunched in confusion, probably because he found it preposterous that I would assume he'd ever be anything other than careful. Mission or not. "I should be worried about you."

"I'm just going to be home," I assured him, my smile widening at his frown.

"Exactly," North's dry tone made me giggle as his eyes flickered behind me. "Leaving you and that clown home _alone_ should make me worried."

"Relax, little brother!" Luke laughed, not moving from his place sprawled on the sofa. His legs were bouncing to the beat of a laundry detergent commercial on TV, possibly caused by a high sugar intake, and I admired the way his blonde mane was bopping along. A bag of Twizzlers was poking out from behind the weathered couch pillow, but I hoped North would ignore it. I wanted my own helping of the tasty treat before he hid them. "We'll be on our best behavior."

"You have nothing to worry about, North," I cut in when North's mouth opened to argue. Placing my hands on his wide shoulders, I tried tugging North around to face the door. It was a testament to how much the boys humor me that he let me move him at all. "It'll be a quiet night, then everyone will be at Nathan's tomorrow for the barbeque!"

"I'll be at the diner for the early breakfast shift, but I should be at Nathan's around ten," North responded, taking his eyes off Luke to look back down at me. "I'll meet you guys at his house. Kota should be stopping by here in the morning, though."

"We don't need a babysitter!" Luke whined from the couch, making me smile in amusement up at North who just rolled his eyes.

"It's just to make sure you're up and ready for Nathan's. When was the last time an alarm clock woke you up, Luke?" North asked as he placed both hands on my hips and squeezed gently. I blew him a kiss as Luke snorted.

"I might not wake up to annoying robots screeching, but I wake up just fine to Sang kisses!" Luke boasted, a grin plastered on his handsome face.

"Luke," I chided, leaning around North to give him an unimpressed look. "Behave."

"Oh great. You sound just like North, Cupcake," Luke groaned, dramatically shivering as he sunk further into the couch, the grin sliding off his face. "Next thing I know, you'll be hiding my chocolate chips and lecturing us all on the benefits of _lettuce_."

"Hey, not only is lettuce highly nutritional but it has a healthy amount of Vitamin C and lactucarium which helps with insomnia," North countered sharply, turning his gaze to focus on Luke as well. His eyes might've been a little less friendly than mine, though.

"And now North is being possessed by Kota," Luke sighed, shaking his head against the couch as his golden locks fanned out around him. He brought a hand up to cover his fake yawn before scratching the back of his neck as I fought a giggle. "Cover your ears, Cupcake! Don't listen to this blasphemy."

"Come on, Luke! Salad isn't so bad," I reasoned, laughing at his outraged face. Stepping closer to North, I leaned against his chest as I brought both hands up to gently cover his ears. His grip on my waist was firm as I looked over to whisper-yell at Luke, "but we all know candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup are the four main food groups!"

"Hey, chocolate should get its own group name!" Luke complained, frowning as he focused on the floor. His hand was still absentmindedly scratching the back of his neck and it made my own neck feel a little itchy.

"Sang?" North grunted, looking down at me with an expression that could only be described as unamused.

"Oops," I giggled, letting go of his ears. I placed a soft kiss on his chest in apology before intending to back away, but right as my lips made contact with his shirt he pulled me closer in a hug.

"Watch it," North grumbled quietly, taking a deep breath with his face buried in my hair. I returned the favor, getting a nose full of his musky scent while wrapping my arms around his torso.

"Okay, okay, you said goodbye. Now hurry along and let me get my Sang time," Luke called from the couch, and I could picture the pout taking up residence on his face.

"Shut it, Lucian. You get all night with her," North countered as he pulled away and turned to Luke. "And what the fuck are you scratching? Stop that!"

"Oh," Luke blinked, pulling a hand away from his neck and looking at it in surprise. "I didn't even realize…."

"Do you have a bug bite?" I asked, walking towards the living room and leaning against the couch's arm beside Luke. "I know a few ways to help them stop itching."

"Nah, I don't think so," Luke answered, cautiously running his fingers over the back of his neck. "Geez, it itches like mad, though."

"Poison ivy?" North questioned, coming up behind me.

"Maybe. Nathan and I explored the woods a bit this afternoon. But no, I would've realized," Luke's nose scrunched adorably as he began scratching again.

"Stop!" North and I cried, starting to reach towards him but Luke jumped backwards.

"Relax!" He laughed, leaning back against the couch and bringing his arm down. "Yeah, it's probably just a bug bite. I'll stop scratching."

Luke's eyes looked genuine, but I'd known the boy long enough to question his clever wording. From the look on North's face, I knew he was suspicious, too.

"You promise?" I asked slowly, holding out a pinky finger and wiggling it at Luke. "No more scratching? I can try and help lessen the itch, if you want."

"I promise," Luke rolled his eyes, leaning forward and sloppily hooking our pinkies together.

"Call Kota if you need some ointment or something," North said, still looking at Luke unsurely. "Anyways, I really need to get going."

"I hope you have fun tonight, North," I smiled, reaching out for his hand and walking towards the door. He entwined our fingers, and I held back a sigh of contentment.

"Watch over Luke," North said quietly as we approached the door.

"Of course I will," I answered, shaking my head at our overprotective bear.

"And Sang? Get to bed at a decent hour," he said as I pulled the door open.

"We will," I said slowly, a little puzzled as to why North was bringing up my bedtime.

"That means that bag of Twizzlers better not be more than half empty tomorrow morning," North said pointedly, and I ducked my head in both guilt and a little embarrassment. Of course North noticed.

"It won't be," I mumbled, unable to stop my smile as North leaned down to gently kiss my cheek.

"Behave," he muttered against my cheek, allowing enough time for me to get my own peck on his cheek before he towered over me again.

"You behave, too!" I ordered, grinning as North turned around and walked over the threshold. I already missed his warmth, a stark contrast to his dark exterior, but I tried to shake it off as I let the door swing shut and walked back to Luke.

"You ready to get this party started, Cupcake?" Luke grinned, pulling the bag of Twizzlers out with a flourish as he presented them to me.

"Let me get the pancake mix!" I grinned, grabbing a piece of licorice and running towards the kitchen.

I woke up to an empty bed and a head that felt like it was full of cotton. Groaning, I stretched my limbs as far as possible while digging my face further into the pillow. It felt surprisingly nice, so I rubbed my face against the pillow again, sighing in happiness. Since when did this feel so good?

As I finished stretching, my calves rubbed together and I almost purred in delight. My head was aching, but for some reason the friction relaxed me. I had barely enough time to realize how odd this was before a grunting sound pulled my attention towards the attic door.

That's where I found Luke, furiously sliding his back up and down the wall as he panted. His eyes were closed, mouth wide open with a groan.

Cautiously sitting up and scratching my scalp to get rid of the bed hair, I got a better look at Luke. His face was twisted with something along the lines of pleasure as he rubbed against the wall, hands furiously sliding against his thighs in a clawed grip. My eyes widened as I wondered if this might be a way that boys...pleasure themselves.

But then I saw the spots.

Covering Luke like a dalmatian, they popped up everywhere. There wasn't a two inch radius on his skin without the alien marks, and my jaw dropped in surprise.

"Luke?" I croaked, looking down to realize I was scratching my own arms without realizing it. Luke responded with a North-like grunt without stopping his frantic movements.

"Luke?" My voice came out a little more distressed as I ripped the covers off my bare legs.

Spots.

Spots everywhere.

"Must...scratch," Luke gritted through a clench jaw, sounding exhausted as I watched sweat drip down his brow. How long had he been awake scratching?

"Luke, stop!" I cried, stumbling off the bed and rushing towards him. I grabbed his shoulders but wasn't strong enough to stop his movements. My skin felt like it was on fire, and I glanced longingly at the wall space next to me.

"Sang, make it stop!" Luke cried in frustration, frantically scratching his neck and chest. "I can't take it anymore!"

"We have the Chicken Pox?" I meant to say it, but it came out as a question. I was pretty sure we did, but I'd never actually seen these spots before.

"We've been cursed," Luke declared, turning his head sharply and rubbing his cheek against the wall. "We're going to die!"

"Luke, we need to stop scratching," I forced out, watching helplessly as my traitorous fingers started rubbing against any skin they could find on my arms. The effect was mindblowing.

"Oh," I moaned, sinking down to sit on the floor. The cool wood felt good against my overheated skin, and I began rubbing my legs back and forth against it. "Oh, yes."

"Oh fuck," Luke groaned, rubbing his cheek harder against the wall. "Right there."

"This feels amazing," I sighed, trying to comprehend how the feeling of rubbing my legs against the floor could feel so good.

"Guys?" A hesitant voice called through the closed door with a few accompanying knocks. "Hey, are you...busy?"

"Kota?" I called out in a strangled voice as I found a particularly stubborn itch on my elbow.

"Oh geez, sorry," Kota called back, sounding flustered. "You're obviously busy. I'll come back...later. Or not. We could meet downstairs. Unless you want to meet up here? Oh god. Ignore me. Carry on. I mean...shit, I'll be downstairs."

Luke finally opened his eyes when Kota cursed, and we shared a surprised look.

"Kota, wait!" I panted, starting to feel a slight cramp in my side from all of the movement I was doing. My brow was caked with perspiration, and I just couldn't force myself to stand up to get the door. "Come here!"

"What?" Kota exclaimed, his voice slightly shrill. "In there? Like...join you? No, no. I can't...what? I really don't think-"

"Put on your big boy pants and get in here, Kota!" Luke demanded in a hoarse voice, rolling his eyes at me. "We're decent!"

I watched as Kota slowly opened the door, unable to stop myself from rubbing against the floor and scratching at that god-forsaken spot on my elbow. My other hand twisted around awkwardly to reach the spots on my cheek and I couldn't decide if I was in Heaven or Hell.

"Sang?" Kota called in alarm once he'd fully opened the door and saw me flailing about on the floor. "Luke? What has gotten into you...oh."

"Yeah, we got the pox," I whined pitifully, pouting up at him as his eyes flickered between us in concern. "Oh no, now you'll get them! Run, Kota! Run!"

"They'll just follow you! You're cursed now, too!" Luke called out madly, his eyes looking slightly glazed over.

"No," Kota shook his head, bending down and gently grabbing both of my arms. He sat down on my legs, causing me to huff as I wasn't able to move them anymore. "I've already had them, but you two seriously need to stop scratching. They'll take longer to heal and leave scars if you don't stop."

"Screw these fiendish little fun-sucking devils," Luke bit out, roughly rubbing his arms and face.

"Luke, stop!" Kota commanded, using his Team Leader voice that bended even my own will. Luke responded with a strangled, animalistic sound while slightly slowing his movements. I tugged against Kota's hold, but his grip was too strong. The fire on my skin was getting too hot to handle. "That's it. Downstairs, right now."

"You can't give me hours for this, Kota!" Luke argued, pushing off the wall but continuing to scratch anywhere he could reach. I stealthily leaned closer to Kota, eyeing the nails on his hand that was facing me. They were blunt, but it looked like they could get the job done.

"I'm not giving you hours, just go down to the couch. Sang, stop!" Kota cried, turning back to me as I nuzzled my cheek against his hand. It was an awkward angle, but I got a tiny bit of relief as his nails grazed over my spots.

"Kota, _please,_ " I begged, rubbing more frantically before he pulled back and hoisted me up into his arms. My hands were still locked together in one of his while his other hand cupped my bottom as he held me in a sort of backwards piggyback ride. Unable to stop myself, I started rubbing against him anywhere are bodies were touching, and he pulled to an abrupt stop behind Luke at the door.

" _Sang,"_ Kota warned through a clenched jaw, his grip tightening on both my hands and bottom. "You doing that is giving me my own itch to scratch, so please _stop."_

Twenty minutes later, Luke and I found ourselves confined to the couch with oven mitts duct taped to our hands. Kota had put me in a pair of thick sweatpants that were duct taped at various parts of my legs so I couldn't rub against them. I was wearing an oversized sweatshirt that was impossible to scratch in as well, and Luke was in a similar getup. Kota had caked calamine lotion all over our skin, but the fire still wasn't extinguished.

"How long do we have to live like this?" I asked softly, looking from Luke sitting beside me to Kota who was carrying two bowls of cereal into the room.

"Most likely a couple days," Kota answered calmly, placing the bowls of Captain Crunch on the coffee table in front of us. "But if you stop itching now, it won't last as long as if the scabs needed to heal again."

"Kota, oh fuck," Luke cursed, rubbing his oven mitts furiously against his thighs. "Shit, you don't understand. My dick itches so bad!"

"Luke!" I exclaimed, my eyes bugging out of their sockets.

"Sang, I'm not even sorry. This is torture," Luke whined. "This is worse than the time North rubbed poison ivy over the inside of my boxers."

"North did that?" I blanched, surprised that _North_ would ever pull a prank on Luke.

"Well, it was after I put itching powder in his before one of his football games," Luke shrugged jerkily as he continued rubbing.

"Luke, stop!" Kota repeated for the hundredth time, sitting on the coffee table and picking up a bowl. "You need to calm down. I brought some breakfast for both of you. You'll need more energy after what you've expended this morning."

"I don't need you to feed me, man," Luke pulled his head back as Kota held out a spoonful of cereal to him. I leaned forward slightly, opening my mouth expectantly for him. Kota smiled as he brought the spoon just out of my reach.

"You need to stop scratching first," Kota instructed softly, nodding towards my lap when I stared at him in confusion. Looking down, I was surprised to see that I'd been rubbing the oven mitts against my thighs without even realizing it.

"Sorry," I apologized quietly, forcefully keeping both mitts still as I opened my mouth again. Kota slowly gave me the spoonful, and I happily munched as he scooped up another helping.

"Doc says he can't get here until his shift ends at noon," Kota informed us, placing the next spoonful in my mouth which I devoured.

"Oh no, we've ruined the barbeque," I mourned, frowning at Kota.

"Relax, Ten," he smiled, tapping the spoon against my pout. "I've texted everyone saying you're sick, and we'll reschedule the barbecue."

My frown deepened. So much for getting to spend a fun day swimming with all of my boys.

Over the next few hours, I realized that I had worried for no reason. The boys had trickled in one by one, and almost everyone had joined us in the family room already. Nathan came over with some movies to watch, North brought fruit from the Diner, and Victor brought a light pink snuggie for me to wear. I'm not sure where he found such a high-quality snuggie, but the material was softer than any silk I've felt. Dr. Sean brought some painkillers and fever reducers, which I was incredibly grateful for. He also had a small lecture on Chicken Pox, which he spiced up after saying that kisses held healing powers in the cases of pox. He demonstrated on my arm, working his way up from wrist to shoulder while explaining that each individual poc would be magically healed after his lips touched them. This theory stopped when Luke held out his arm expectantly to Dr. Sean.

Silas brought a new book for me to read, an English version of the bedtime stories his mother used to read to him. I made him promise to stay the night with me and read them together.

Kota announced the bad news before lunch. With Luke and I dozing every hour or so and the barbeque cancelled, some of the boys decided to take up a mission now so they could all be free next weekend. Nathan, Victor, and Silas headed out while North started making lunch in the kitchen and I did my best not to pout.

Erica had just left after bringing us some fruit smoothies in sympathy when the door flew open and Gabriel came barrelling in.

His eyes zoned in on me right away and he came rushing across the floor. Grabbing my shoulders in a tight grip that almost caused me to sigh with perverse pleasure from the pressure on my pox, he started rambling in alarm, "Sang, what's wrong with you? I got Kota's text saying you were sick. What the fuck happened? Are you okay? Shit! Where's Doc? DOC! WHAT'S WRONG WITH SANG?"

Gabriel's frantic eyes had focused on Dr. Sean before his body went completely rigid and he turned back to me slowly.

"What the fuck are you wearing, Trouble?" Gabriel's voice was deadly calm as his eyes dropped down to my frumpy outfit before his glare shot towards the other boys. "Which one of you motherfuckers let her wear this?"

"Gabriel, calm down," I said, holding my breath as he brought a hand up to smooth down my hair. It was wrong, I know it was, but I wanted to cry with joy and start kicking my foot in excitement as he put pressure on my scalp. His hands were gentle and light, but I felt just the tiniest bit of relief as his hands skimmed over my pox. If he could just get a little...closer….

I stifled a groan as his hands fell away.

"Meanie, wait-" I gasped, wanting that hand back. "I think you messed up my hair."

Gabriel gave my hair an intent stare before looking at me like I was certifiable. "No, I didn't. I fixed it, Trouble."

"No, it feels poofy on the left side," I insisted, trying to flip my head back a little to move the hair.

"Stop, stop! What the fuck are you doing?" Gabriel cried, stepping forward and grabbing my head to make it stop moving. "Fine, I'll fix it."

"Thank you, Meanie," I gave him a small smile then took a deep breath to prepare myself for his touch. These pox were bound to send me to the nuthouse.

"Gabe, stop," Kota's commanding voice rang out from across the room and everyone froze. I meekly turned to look at Kota as everyone else turned towards me and Gabriel, who still had his hand in my hair.

"What did I tell you, Sang?" Kota asked, his face not the least bit amused as he looked down at me from meters away.

"No scratching," I admitted softly, unable to refrain from pouting a little.

"Oy, what the fuck is going on?" Gabriel asked in confusion, plopping down on the couch next to me and letting his magical hand drop from my hair.

"Sang and Luke have the Chicken Pox," Kota explained, gesturing towards Luke on the couch as well, who'd fallen fast asleep an hour ago and continued to sleep through Gabriel's yelling.

"Well, shit," Gabriel exclaimed, turning back to me and tugging lightly on a lock of hair. "Trouble, you know I'm here for you and all that, but there is no excuse for wearing shit that is fucking duct taped to your legs. Even in sickness, I won't allow it."

"I think we would all prefer that Miss Sorenson remains comfortable. Wouldn't you, Mr. Coleman?" A smooth voice spoke from the foyer, and I looked to see Mr. Blackbourne quietly closing the front door with his eyes on us.

"No," Gabriel mumbled under his breath before slinging an arm around my shoulder.

"Owen, so nice of you to join us!" Dr. Sean grinned, patting the side of the armchair next to his beanbag. "We're just about to start the Disney portion of our movie marathon."

"Ah, my personal favorite," Mr. Blackbourne responded dryly as came to a stop in front of the couch. I met his gaze hesitantly, feeling wholly embarrassed and out of place in my sweats and useless oven mitts. He met my gaze just as cautiously, reminding me once again of the multitude of spots and pink lotion caked on my face, before he reached forward and lightly caressed my cheek. A smile blossomed on my face, and I didn't fight it as I saw his returning one. "How are you feeling, Miss Sorenson?"

"I'm okay," I whispered, watching as he crouched down in front of me and his gaze roamed over my face. "It's itchy, but the lotion helps. Dr. Sean gave me some medicine, too. Everyone has been so helpful."

"I'm sure they have," Mr. Blackbourne's millimeter smile appeared again and my eyes were riveted to it. I wanted to bottle it up in a jar and carry it with me everywhere. "I know you've probably heard this enough today, but do you need anything else? Anything at all?"

"No," I shook my head quickly, placing my hand on his arm before I realized the oven mitt was in the way. Mr. Blackbourne didn't seem to mind, so I kept it there. "I just like having you all around. That helps the most, I think, the distractions."

"Then I will stay as long as you need me," Mr. Blackbourne decided, nodding his head at me.

"Oh, no! I don't want to make you…," I trailed off unsurely, biting my lip. "I mean, you don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"I want to," Mr. Blackbourne answered simply, placing a soft kiss on my sweaty forehead before standing up to his full height. He missed my full blown smile as he turned around and walked towards the armchair, but Dr. Sean's wink and Kota's chuckle told me they saw it.

"Oy, can we start this shit now?" Gabriel's voice boomed in my ear, causing me to jump slightly. He pulled me tighter against his side, kissing the top of my head in apology as I relaxed against him.

"Which movie first?" North asked as he came into the room with a few plates of food.

"Mulan!" Dr. Sean called out quickly in excitement at the same time Gabriel yelled, "Aladdin!"

"Don't look at me," I raised my oven mitts helplessly after they all turned to me with expectant faces. "Wake Luke if you want a sick person to pick, but I don't like deciding."

"It's just a movie, Sang," Kota sighed from his chair, smiling at me. "It's okay that you can't decide between _us_. We like that, but I think you can pick a little movie."

"No!" I moaned, sinking further down the couch and against Gabriel. "Somebody else pick."

"I'll do it!" Dr. Sean shouted and popped up, racing to the dvd player as Gabriel started to get off the couch next to me.

"Dibs on the next one," Gabriel grumbled in defeat before cuddling back against me.

North dimmed the lights as he handed out plates of lunch and the screen lit up with the opening credits for _Mulan._ The itching had mostly subsided and my headache was gone. I was still exhausted, leaning against Gabriel as he lightly rubbed my arm before stopping and lightly cursing himself.

Every once in awhile, I grabbed Luke's oven mitts when he started scratching in his sleep, but the rest of the afternoon was spent dozing, laughing with my boys, and watching a wide array of movies.

It was after dinner, and I had woken up in the middle of some movie about bugs in a circus. Snuggled between Gabriel and Luke, I yawned and saw a movement in the corner of my eye. Turning to the side and blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I watched Mr. Blackbourne bring a hand up and cautiously scratch a spot on his forearm.

His gaze flickered over to meet mine, and my hand flew up so an oven mitt could hide the beaming smile I felt stretching across my face.

Mr. Blackbourne would need a nurse for the next few days, and I knew just the girl who'd be up for the job.

 **A/N: Hmph! It was originally going to be The Three Amigos all getting the Chicken Pox, but then other things happened and yeah. This came out.**

 **** ** **Also, Luke was crossing his fingers behind his back during the pinky promise. Even though I think the pinky party technically trumps that, Sang and him can argue about it later.****


	5. Red Lip, Classic (Part I)

**A/N: This prompt was provided by "bookworm18" on here. :) I had a lot of fun with it, so I hope you like it!**

Red Lip, Classic (Part I)

"What is that?" I asked curiously, pointing towards a picture of a red pencil. Gabriel gently gathered my hair over to one side as he settled his chin on my other shoulder.

"That's a lip pencil, Trouble," Gabriel explained while looking down at the magazine in my lap. I snuggled back further against his chest and frowned at the advertisement. A lip pencil?

"Do you draw designs on your lip with it?" I guessed, picturing the artwork Gabriel did on my nails. I had never seen people draw pictures on their lips before, but maybe it was a party thing. I'd only ever been to one.

"Fuck no," Gabriel snorted, leaning in to smack a loud kiss onto the back of my head. "You're adorable as shit, Sang."

"Sometimes when you use that phrase it doesn't sound like a good thing," I mumbled, flipping to the next page and seeing all different types of eye shadow. At least I think it was eye-shadow. Most of them were a brown color called "bronzer," and I wasn't sure who needed that many shades of brown to put on their eyes.

"It's always a good thing," Gabriel assured me, tapping his hands against my waist to match the upbeat racing music booming from the TV. "And you know eye liner? A lip pencil is kind of like that, but for your lips."

"Ah," I hummed in understanding, nodding as that somewhat made sense. I tried to imagine it, but it just made my mouth feel funny and I pictured myself looking like The Joker.

"I've never used lip liner on you before, but we can give it a shot sometime if you want," Gabriel offered, his voice sounding distracted as I felt his eyes return to the TV screen where Silas and Nathan were racing cars.

"Now?" I asked hopefully, getting a little excited to try it.

"Uh, sure. Fuck yeah," Gabriel decided, nodding and nudging me to get up. I slid off his lap and found myself next to Kota, who was so engrossed in his book he didn't even look up. "Let me go grab your emergency makeup kit."

"Emergency kit?" I echoed, looking back over at Gabriel as he bopped a sleeping Luke on the head on his way to the stairs.

"Wuzzat?" Luke mumbled from the other side of the couch, jerking his head up from the couch arm. His sleepy eyes met mine in confusion, and I gave him an apologetic smile.

"I keep your normal kit at my place, since I never know which house you'll be at. It's easier," Gabriel shrugged before bounding up the stairs.

"Sang?" Luke mumbled as his lips stretched wide in a yawn so big I could probably fit my fist into his mouth. He stretched his arms high above his head and my eyes involuntarily dropped to the sliver of skin peeking out as his shirt rode up. I gulped.

How was it possible for an inch of skin to make me forget my own name?

If I wasn't so fascinated by my reactions to the boys, I'd ask Dr. Sean to reserve me a bed in the hospital's psych ward. This couldn't be normal.

"Sang?" Luke repeated, sounding decidedly less sleepy. Reluctantly pulling my gaze from that little inch of Heaven, I looked up to find a devilish smirk on Luke's face.

"Don't say anything," I mumbled in a rush, feeling the heat creep up my neck. "Not a word."

"Words weren't really what I had in mind, Cupcake," Luke's smirk transformed into a cheeky grin. "And from the look in your eyes, I'd bet you didn't either."

"Luke," I groaned, covering my face with both hands. The couch cushions moved as I felt him scoot closer and fingers gently clasped my wrists.

"Sang," Luke whispered. The warmth in his tone made my tightly closed eyes open to meet his gentle ones sparkling back at me. "How do you still blush at that?"

"I don't know!" I squeaked and winced again. "I'm trying not to."

"Don't tease her, Luke," Kota muttered from behind me, but his voice held none of the team leader authority. Authority that I would have _really_ appreciated right now.

"I'm not teasing!" Luke denied, and my lips pulled into a small, reluctant smile as he leaned forward to place a slow, warm kiss on each of my burning cheeks.

"If you're not careful, Sang, red might become my new favorite color," he mumbled against my cheek, sneaking one more kiss before leaning back with a smile. I opened my mouth to most likely stutter something embarrassing like _"you're my favorite color"_ back but was thankfully saved from replying as North and Victor walked in from the kitchen.

"What did you do now, Luke?" Victor asked warily as soon as he looked at me. I just rolled my eyes with a smile, holding out a hand for the snacks they brought in.

"He's just being silly," I said as Victor handed me a bowl of popcorn and squeezed in between Kota and me. I grudgingly scooted closer to Luke after giving him a warning look.

"Don't worry, Sang, I'll keep my hands to myself," Luke teased, shoving both hands beneath his thighs and smiling innocently at me.

"You better," North grumbled as he lowered himself onto a beanbag chair in front of Kota.

"Got it!" Gabriel yelled as he came flying down the stairs. "Oy, where'd all you fuckers come from? Nevermind. Trouble, get your pretty little ass over here."

"North, you can have my spot," I offered while setting down the bowl of popcorn. I hopped off the couch and headed towards where Gabriel had plopped down on the floor.

"His ass is twice the size of yours, Trouble," Gabriel snorted, snagging my hand as I reached him and pulling me down to the carpet in front of him. I folded my legs Indian-style and awaited instructions.

"Don't listen to Gabe, little bro," Luke snickered from the couch, patting the small area of space beside him. "You can come snuggle with me."

The glare on North's face would've made me pee myself if I was Luke, but he just kept laughing to himself until North actually started to stand up from the beanbag chair.

"North, hey! I was just kidding!" Luke threw up his hands as North stalked towards him. I looked to Gabriel who was grinning, and even Kota had a small smile on his face while keeping both eyes glued to the book's pages.

"Μην τον πειράζουν , τον αδελφό," Silas spoke softly from his spot on the floor, focusing on the racing game with Nathan. North just snorted and kept his eyes on Luke. I giggled nervously at Luke's own unsure expression before North swiftly leant down and pulled Luke off the couch by his shoulders. Lugging Luke two feet to the side, he deposited him in a heap on the beanbag chair before sinking onto the couch in Luke's old spot.

My giggles erupted into full blown laughter at the slack jawed expression Luke wore as Gabriel grabbed my chin.

"Stay still, Trouble. We're gonna go for a classic look," he ordered, looking over my face with a critical eye. I glanced back at a pouting Luke before biting my lip.

"Luke, would it make you feel better if Gabriel did your makeup as well?" I offered, giving Gabriel a hopeful look.

"What?" Luke blanched. "Why would that make me feel _better?"_

"It always makes me feel better," I shrugged as Gabriel started applying a clear gel to my skin.

"That's cause you're a girl, Cupcake," Luke pointed out.

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Luke," Gabriel snorted as he took out a bottle with powdered foundation in it. "You're always relaxed when I do your makeup for undercover work. You love this shit."

"I don't _love_ it," Luke denied, but then I saw him frown out of the corner of my eye. "But it was pretty relaxing."

"Come over here," I smiled, patting the carpet by my side.

Luke was quiet for a moment before I felt the air shift and he was sitting beside me, copying my position.

"Just the powder, Gabe," Luke warned seriously, and a few giggles escaped me. "None of that, Cupcake! And not a word of this to anyone."

"I promise, Luke," I grinned, wanting to turn towards him but Gabriel was holding my chin hostage with his soft grip as he brushed powder in big circles all over my face which just caused me to giggle more. "Gabriel! It tickles!"

"Keep your ass still, Trouble," Gabriel grumbled as he put the powder away and studied my face. Luke picked up one of my hands that was resting on my knee and starting playing with my fingers. "Usually we do your lips last, but I want to try out the lip pencil."

"Have you ever used the lip pencil on someone before?" I asked curiously. I knew Gabriel had used foundation on the boys before to cover up marks, but maybe he'd done other girls' makeup before? My stomach twisted at the thought, but I told myself to stop being ridiculous. It'd be petty to get jealous over something like makeup.

"Not a word," North grunted out when Gabriel opened his mouth. "Don't fucking say it."

"Just once," Gabriel's lips were twitching as he tried to fight off a grin. "But his-I mean, _their_ lips weren't nearly as plump or delicious-looking as yours."

My head was moving back and forth between Gabriel and North faster than a ping-pong ball as I tried to gather my thoughts.

"You mean...?" I trailed off, refusing to believe it.

"Gabe," North growled, starting to get up from the sofa.

"I didn't say anything!" Gabriel cried, throwing his hands up in defense as he jumped off the floor. North had taken threatening one step away from the couch before Gabriel flew out of the room and around the corner. North stomped after him at a slower, scarier pace.

I turned to Luke with my eyes the size of saucers.

"Remember that gay bar mission we were telling you about?" Luke asked through his laughter.

"Oh my God," I whispered breathlessly, trying to sort out the possible images of North in my mind.

"It was incredible," Luke sighed dreamily from beside me. "I only regret that North found the one picture I'd managed to take and deleted it."

I needed to see that photo.

Turning towards the doorway, there was no sign of Gabriel or North. The sounds from Silas and Nathan's game were drowning out any sound in the rest of the house, but then an idea hit me as I turned towards Luke.

"Can I do your makeup?" I asked hopefully, a finger finding it's way to my throat as he looked at me consideringly.

"Have you never done someone's makeup before?" Luke asked curiously, turning so he was facing me and our poses mirrored each other.

"No," I admitted, shaking my head. "I've done my mascara and eyeliner before. Oh, and lipgloss."

Luke's eyes trailed to my lips before grinning.

"Alright, Cupcake! I am your blank canvas. Do with me as you please," he winked saucily before sitting up straighter.

I beamed at him, ignoring the slight flush of my cheeks as I sorted through the makeup kit. Where to begin? Looking up at Luke's expectant face, I tried to think of what went through Gabriel's mind before he started painting my face. I guess I'd start with the clear goop he put on my face first.

Taking out a small white tube, I squeezed a big dollop on my finger before turning to kneel in front of Luke. Rubbing it between both hands to warm it up a bit, I started smearing the goop all over Luke's cheeks and forehead.

"What is this stuff?" Luke asked, his brow crinkling in confusion as my fingers ran over them.

"I don't know," I shrugged, sitting back onto my heels and looking at my masterpiece so far. I frowned. Luke's skin looked a little shiny, and I don't think that was part of the plan.

"You don't know?" Luke asked with a hint of disbelief. "You don't know what it was, but you put it on me? What if it turns my skin blue!"

"Then I'll be blue, too," I smiled, picking up the tube and handing it to him. "Gabriel put it on me, too."

"I can't read this," Luke frowned, squinting at the tube. "Is this a font for ants?"

I grabbed the powder next and dipped the brush in.

"Stay still," I warned Luke, leaning forward and starting to brush the powder all over his face. I wasn't very good at doing circles, so I mostly pretended it was a paint brush as I made big strokes with it.

Setting the brush back, I bit my lip as I decided what was next.

"Do some eye shadow," Nathan's voice made me jump, and I turned to see Silas and Nathan sitting quietly behind me. Silas gave me a warm grin, while Nathan scooted up and started digging through the makeup kit. "And make it green."

"No way!" Luke argued, leaning back slightly and sending a glare at Nathan. "You wouldn't do that to me, right, Cupcake? Green isn't my color."

"It would go lovely with your hair," I observed quietly, tilting my head slightly as I considered Luke's hair. It was so pretty.

"Cupcake!" Luke's eyes grew wide in fear.

"I would never do a color you don't want, Luke," I smiled reassuringly, taking the eyeshadow case Nathan held out to me. "How about blue?"

"Fine," Luke agreed with a sigh, closing his eyes resignedly.

"Do this one," Silas's gruff voice spoke up, his finger pointing to a light blue circle. I smiled in thanks at my gentle giant before turning towards Luke. Taking out the small wand, I rubbed it over the light blue eyeshadow before bringing it up to Luke's face. With a deep breath, I softly placed the tip against his eyelid and slid it from one side to the other.

"Okay, open your eyes for a moment, Luke," I ordered, sitting back on my heels again. Luke opened his eyes as requested, and I used all of my willpower to stifle a giggle at how silly he looked. Silas and Nathan weren't as kind as they let out booming laughs.

"Okay, close them!" I choked out with a giggle, causing Luke to mutter under his breath as he closed both eyes again.

"What? I think the color looks good on him," Victor said from the couch. I looked over to see him grinning as Kota remained absorbed in his book.

"If you think that now, just wait until I finish," I grinned, another idea popping into my head. "He's going to be so pretty!"

"Cupcake," Luke whined quietly. "All I wanted was some powder."

"Shush, Luke," I admonished quietly, rubbing some more light blue on the wand and quickly doing his other eye. "Just a little more."

I flipped the wand and rubbed it on the light pink color. Nathan snorted next to me as I brought it up and painted the top part of Luke's eyelids with it. I was almost shaking with silent, mischievous giggles now, and some of the eyeshadow ending up get in his eyebrows from the movements. Victor had walked over and was now sitting next to Nathan by the makeup kit.

"Use this next," Victor suggested, holding out a tube of mascara.

"Geez, do one of you want my spot?" Luke asked with his eyes still closed. "I didn't realize there'd be an audience."

"Relax, man," Nathan smiled and leaned back on his hands. "It's not everyday we see you turn into a girl."

Pulling out the mascara, I carefully swiped Luke's lashes on both eyes before leaning back and biting my lip thoughtfully.

"Almost done!" I announced as Luke started squirming. We may have only been sitting down for a few minutes, but that was a long time for Luke to stay still.

Scooping up my favorite Strawberry lip gloss, I focused intently on Luke while running it over his lips. He jumped slightly at first, but once I was finished he ran his tongue quickly over both lips.

"Oh man, this tastes amazing," Luke exclaimed in surprise, running his tongue over them again before smacking his lips loudly. "Do you have any candy flavored ones?"

"Luke, stop!" I giggled, grabbing onto his shoulders. "You're going to lick it all off."

"It tastes too good," Luke moaned, licking his lips again. "Like strawberries and you."

I couldn't hide the blush as I turned back towards the makeup and the other boys chuckled. A grin blossomed on my own face as I found my last weapon, though.

"Now you can blush, too," I told Luke as I uncapped the bottle and dipped a brush in. Letting the tiniest bit of pink powder on the brush, I swiped it across both of Luke's cheeks with a giggle. "Okay, open your eyes!"

The boys immediately started cracking up as Luke opened his gorgeous eyes, but I beamed at him. Part of me may have cringed, because even I could tell the blush was uneven and the eyeshadow was smudged and one side had more blue than the other...but I was too busy being entranced by Luke's big, brown eyes being framed by long, dark lashes.

He didn't look the least bit uncomfortable or embarrassed by the boys laughing at him. Luke just grinned right back at me with a playful wink, and my heart melted just a tiny bit. I couldn't seem to stop myself, because before I knew it I had launched myself at him and his shiny, lipgloss covered lips.

The boys' laughter quickly died behind me as Luke's lips molded against mine without even a second of surprise on his end. My hands found his shoulders as one of his came up to grip the back of my head while the other rested on my thigh. It felt weird, his lips sliding easily against mine thanks to the gloss, but it was a good weird. I struggled to get even a little bit closer, my legs straddling his and our chests pressed flush against each other. Luke's tongue licked across my bottom lip, but I couldn't tell if he was trying to taste my lips or his own. Regardless, I opened for him and he started exploring my mouth with a sensual hunger that made me want to feed him everything I had. As his hand massaged the back of my head while his tongue did a little massaging of its own, I let out a soft, involuntary moan.

"Oh fuck, this is so wrong. It's almost like two hot girls kissing, but in my head I know it's still Luke," I vaguely heard Nathan tell the others, but I was too consumed by Luke to care. "A Luke with blush and eyeshadow."

Gabriel's shout of "What the fucking hell, Trouble?" was what finally cut through my haze, and I reluctantly pulled back from Luke, both of us breathless. Maybe I was on an adrenaline high from the kissing, but I couldn't get myself to care that we'd just been kissing in front of everyone.

"You're right. That does taste good," I giggled through my panting breaths, swiping the smudged lip gloss and saliva from my lips with the back of my wrist.

"I swear to God, I leave for five fucking minutes and the world turns to shit," Gabriel said in exasperation. Still on Luke's lap I turned to Gabriel and fell into another round of giggles.

Gabriel's normally styled and combed hair was sprouting every which way and his shirt was wrinkled.

"What did North do to you?" I managed to ask through my giggles as North rounded the corner. He was wearing a satisfied smirk, and if it weren't for the fact that Gabriel's lips weren't swollen and he wasn't flushed, I might've been a little worried about what they'd been doing.

North stopped in his tracks once he saw us on the floor.

"I think you mean what the fuck did you do to Lucian?" North bellowed, staring at his brother in horror.

"Don't you mean Lucy?" Kota spoke up quietly from the couch, his eyes still glued to the book in front of him.

"Ha ha," Luke laughed dryly while a couple boys snickered. "At least I was man enough to let Sang beautify my face."

"That doesn't make you a man, Luke," North snorted from his spot a few feet away. "If anything, it makes you a girl."

"Stop being mean to Luke," I pouted, moving my hands to the back of his neck and rubbing soothingly. "This was my first time getting to do somebody's makeup. Luke was just being nice to me."

North had the decency to look a little contrite and he sent an apologetic look to Luke, who nodded back, but Gabriel just gaped at me.

"You've never done someone else's makeup, Trouble?" He gasped in horror, stepping further into the room and sitting on the floor with us.

"No," I admitted again, this time a little more self-consciously. "We weren't allowed to have makeup growing up, then I never really had friends until you guys."

"We were her first sleepover," Kota pointed out gently, and I looked down to mine and Luke's laps. I wasn't ashamed, but it was still a little embarrassing to admit all of the normal childhood things I'd missed out on.

"Why is this such a big deal, Gabe?" Victor asked. "It's just makeup."

"Because...fuck! Doing makeup is like a right of passage for girls," Gabriel spoke out passionately, scrunching his face up in frustration. "That's it, we're going to fix this."

"Fix it?" I echoed in confusion. "I don't really want to do Marie's-"

"Nope, that's it!" Gabriel snapped his fingers, standing up with a grin. "I fucking got it. Just sit tight, Trouble."

 _To be continued..._

 **A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I promise not to take too long on Part II. Let me know what you guys think. :)**

 **Μην τον πειράζουν , τον αδελφό** _ **loosely**_ **translates to mean "Don't tease him, brother." At least it does according to Google Translate. (When I swapped them, it says "Do not tease, brother." Whatever, close enough.)**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	6. Red Lip, Classic (Part II)

**A/N: This one is slightly longer (if you can call 4,500 words longer than Part I "slightly.") My fingers ran off and did their own thing again.**

Red Lip, Classic (Part II)

Gabriel rushed out of the room before any of us could react, and I looked around at the rest of the boys in confusion.

"Where is he...?" I started to ask, trailing off when no one else looked concerned.

"It's Gabe, Sang," Victor shrugged, moving back to the couch and sitting down next to Kota. "You've just gotta let him be and hope for the best."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Nathan mumbled from beside me.

Sighing because it looked like all we could do was wait for Gabriel to return, I turned back to Luke and let out a giggle. He looked absolutely ridiculous with that eyeshadow and blush on his face.

"Luke," I whispered, shifting backwards a little bit on his lap as his hands trailed soothingly up and down my thighs.

"Yes, Cupcake?" Luke chirped back, those big, brown eyes staring into my soul. I couldn't stop the silly grin from taking over my face as I took in the uneven blue and pink eyeshadow before trailing down to his lips.

"You're a little smudged," I said softly, bringing up a thumb to gently swipe across the bottom of his lips to collect the smeared lip gloss.

"Oh," Luke's eyes lit up as he licked his lips quickly before grabbing my wrist. "I thought I'd gotten it all."

Bringing his eyes back up to meet mine with a gaze miles more intense than his usual playful one, Luke slowly brought my thumb back to his lips as I sat motionless on his lap. With his eyes full of promise, he opened his full lips before closing them around my thumb. My breath caught at the sensation of his tongue swirling around me, and I had to grab his shoulder with my free hand when he started sucking the gloss off. A strangled sound escaped my throat and I started to shift closer to him when arms unexpectedly scooped me off Luke's lap in one swift movement. My thumb left his mouth with a _pop_ as I blinked in surprise.

"That's enough of that," Silas's chest rumbled against my back as he carried me away from Luke. "Remind me not to leave you two alone together."

"As if that would even stop them," Nathan snorted as I blinked a few times to get my bearings back. I found myself on Silas's lap now on the couch, and I looked over to see both Victor and Kota sitting beside us with slightly stunned expressions. I blushed in realization, but was slightly relieved that Kota had finally looked up from his book.

"Sorry," I mumbled, hiding slightly against Silas's chest. "I didn't realize..."

"Don't you dare apologize, Sang," Luke ordered from his spot sprawled on the floor. Peeking out, I found him pouting up at me. "If anything, blame them for interrupting us."

"We were right here," Nathan told Luke in disbelief. "We don't need to see you sucking Sang's thumb."

My blush was getting even hotter, but Luke just shrugged.

"She's my girlfriend," he said lightly. "I'm not going to apologize for acting like it."

"She's our girlfriend, too," Nathan argued, beginning to look frustrated.

"And I don't complain when I see you kiss her," Luke pointed out with another shrug.

"This is a little different than that," Victor spoke up, clearing his throat uncomfortably. My heart sunk with each word they spoke; I couldn't believe I made them uncomfortable.

"Guys, I'm so sorry," I started to apologize, looking around at them all from the safe haven of Silas's arms and trying to find the words to explain how I lose all rational thoughts around them sometimes.

"I didn't mind it," Silas admitted easily, running his hand comfortingly up and down my back. "I only pulled you off because I didn't want you to be embarrassed if it went any further. It looked like it might've."

I reluctantly pulled back from Silas's tight hold to look up at his face. His expression was sincere as he smiled down at me, and I managed a small smile back. Unable to stop myself, I looked towards North on the floor, wondering how my grumpy bear had managed to keep his temper in check this long. He caught my questioning look, and a smirk slid onto his face.

"Sang Baby, if you're looking for someone to scold you for getting all hot and bothered, you're looking at the wrong guy," North explained, both his words and rough voice sending a shiver down my spine. "Even if it's with this idiot, I'm never gonna complain about seeing you like that."

"Aww, thanks, little bro!" Luke cooed as I patted my burning cheeks.

Where in the world was Gabriel when I needed him?

"You can't just...do _that_ in front of us," Nathan tried to explain, running a hand over his face. "It's weird."

"So are there rules, then?" North spoke up when Luke frowned. "We can kiss her and hug her in front of each other, but nothing beyond that?"

"I don't know!" Nathan cried in frustration.

"We're already doing stuff behind closed doors," Luke reasoned, looking between North and Nathan. "If anything, as long as Sang's comfortable I don't see a problem with normal PDA things happening in front of each other."

I didn't know if I wanted to run and hide in Nathan's room or continue watching this trainwreck, but I couldn't get my legs to move if I tried.

"Like sucking on her thumb?" Nathan asked with raised brows.

"Oh come off it, Nathan," North snorted. "You fucking chew on her fingers all the time."

"It's different," Nathan defended, letting out a ragged breath. "I don't mean to get so mad, but I don't know how I feel about this."

"We're all still learning, Nate," Kota reassured him, setting his book down on the coffee table. His ears were tinged pink, and I worried once again that I'd stepped over a line. "This is a unique situation, and we'll figure it out. It'll take some time, though."

"Yeah," Nathan sighed, looking towards Luke with a wince. "I'm sorry I freaked out."

"Don't be, Nate," Luke shook his head, smiling apologetically back. "I'm not sorry for what I did, but I am sorry I made you uncomfortable."

"Oy, somebody grab this shit!" Gabriel's voice called from the kitchen before a huge bag came flying through the doorway. North got up to retrieve the bag as we heard more commotion coming from the kitchen.

A moment later, a flustered Gabriel came flying through the doorway with a small plastic bag in his hand and a small, black cloth square.

"What's going on, Gabriel?" I asked, unable to keep quiet anymore as he grabbed something out of the plastic bag and walked towards the corner by Nathan's computer desk.

"Getting things ready," was all Gabriel said before placing the black cloth over a piece of wall and taping it there. "Trouble, grab this shitty bag and collect everyone's phones with it."

Giving Silas a questioning look that he just shrugged in response to, I slowly slid off his lap and walked towards Gabriel.

"Yours too, Trouble," he commanded, dropping his own phone inside before handing me the bag. With a frown, I fished my phone out of my bra and dropped it in the bag before turning towards the other boys.

"Kota?" I asked quietly, holding out the bag. He gave me a wary look before turning to Gabriel.

"Gabe, what is-"

"Trust, Kota," Gabriel cut him off with a raised eyebrow as he jogged back over to the bag North had. Kota sighed before placing his phone in the bag, then I quickly walked around the room and collected everyone's phones.

Turning back to Gabriel, I stopped in my tracks when I saw him pulling an arrangement of different hats and articles of clothing out of the bag. When Gabriel pulled a bright pink, fluffy boa out next, all of us just stared in confusion.

"Don't mind this shit for now," Gabriel waved his hand dismissively at the lot and turned towards us. "I need a volunteer to run over to Sang's house. North? Okay, good."

"What the fuck?" North asked, glaring at Gabriel. "Is this because of the noogie earlier?"

"Here's the list," Gabriel spoke quickly, shoving a piece of paper into North's hand and walking towards the door. Opening the door, he sent an expectant look to North. "Chop chop. The sooner you get everything, the sooner we can fucking start."

"You better watch it, Gabe" North warned with a growl, making his way warily towards the front door.

"Grumpy fucker," Gabriel muttered as soon as the door was closed behind North. Turning to us with a grin, Gabriel spread out his hands. "Let's get this shit started!"

"What shit?" Nathan asked, eyeing the pile of clothes warily.

"And why did you make North go?" Kota asked curiously. "You know Luke is the fastest, and it's easier for him to sneak around so Marie won't know he was there."

"North willl be fine," Gabriel shrugged it off. "But he can't be here right now because he's going to be the hardest to convince."

"Convince of what?" Victor spoke cautiously from the couch.

"Convince him to let Sang do his makeup," Gabriel announced cheerfully, beaming at us expectantly.

You could've heard a pin drop from the silence that followed.

"Gabe," Victor was the first to find his voice, but it came out slightly throaty. "No."

"No _way,_ " Nathan emphasized, shaking his head adamantly.

"Put your fucking egos aside for one second, and take a look at Trouble," Gabriel glared at both boys, waving a hand towards me. "Try and tell that beautiful face no."

When Victor and Nathan turned towards me, I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea. I'd get to do _everyone's_ makeup? My mouth had dropped open in amazement, and I was already picturing all the different shades of eye-shadow I could use. The "bronzer" one would look really good with North's eyes.

"Oh shit," someone cursed. "Fine, I'm in."

"Don't sound so reluctant, Natey-boy," Luke grinned, pulling me from my daydream of rubbing foundation over masculine jaws. "You'll be eating your words once you realize how delicious this lipgloss is."

"Never gonna happen, Luke," Nathan spoke resolutely, shaking his head as he moved to sit on the couch.

"What about the rest of you?" Gabriel pushed, looking around the room.

"I'm in," Silas shrugged from his spot next to Victor. "If it'd make Aggele mou happy, I don't care if I get a little paint on my face."

"It washes off," Kota agreed, nodding his head thoughtfully. "Sure, I'll do it."

Now I was beaming at them, clasping my hands together in excitement.

"Victor?" I asked hopefully, looking at him with wide eyes. His lips were pursed as he studied me before closing his own eyes.

"No pictures," he sighed, his head giving the slightest nod. "If any of you take a single picture, I'll hack your phones so you aren't able to text Princess for at least a month."

I squealed in excitement before rushing over to the makeup bag.

"That's why I covered the living room camera," Gabriel explained, nodding his head to the black cloth. "And with no phones, there'll never be _any_ evidence this shit ever happened."

"Aww," Luke whined from behind me, and I could picture his pout. "Maybe just a _little_ evidence?"

"No," Victor said forcefully. "If George or Jasmine ever got wind of this, I'd be done for."

"Fine, no evidence," Luke sighed.

"It's going to be difficult to convince North to join us," Kota mused, looking towards the front door.

"Not really," Nathan grinned from the couch. "We swam earlier, and Sang beat him once more than he beat her."

"A favor!" I cried in delight, a massive grin slipping onto my face.

"Well shit, that's easy," Gabriel said happily, sitting next to me on the floor and starting to pull items out of the makeup kit.

"What did you have him get from Sang's?" Kota asked curiously.

"Just another makeup kit with different things in it and a few accessories," Gabriel explained, putting the makeup items into different groups on the carpet.

"We're not going to...wear that stuff, are we?" Nathan asked nervously, pointing at the pile of hats and other clothing Gabriel brought in the big bag.

"We're giving Trouble the full fucking experience," Gabriel announced forcefully with a silent look at each of the boys.

"Shit," Nathan mumbled, but didn't respond.

"How are we doing this, Gabe?" Kota asked, standing up from the couch and looking towards Gabriel.

"Well, when North gets back Sang is going to take him into Nathan's room to call in her favor," Gabriel explained, looking at me for confirmation. I nodded hesitantly, hoping North would go along with it. "Then we'll all form a line out here and Trouble can take turns doing each of us."

"Gabriel! No," Victor coughed pointedly as the other boys snickered, but I frowned.

"Victor, did you change your mind?" I asked quietly. "Do you not want me to do you anymore?"

" _Sang_ ," Silas grimaced, motioning me to come over with his hand. "Come here, Aggele. Don't worry about Vic, you're still doing his makeup."

"And _just_ his makeup," Kota ordered as I walked over to Silas and slid into his waiting arms.

"No accessories?" I asked in confusion, just to make sure. I thought they had agreed to the hats...

"Forget it, Ten," Kota sighed with a small smile. "Do what you want."

I smiled as my mind drifted to the possibilities nail polish, but North opening the front door stole my attention.

"Got everything on the list," North grumbled, placing the bag down by Gabriel before making his way to an armchair.

"Thanks, man," Gabriel said, picking up the bag and starting to sort through it. Silas gently poked my side, and I took a deep breath for courage. North was looking a little grumpier than usual, and I was worried he wouldn't go along with this at all.

"North?" I called as he slumped down in the armchair. North's big, brown eyes turned my way and I swallowed while sliding off Silas's lap. "Can you join me in Nathan's room for a moment? I wanted to talk to you about something."

North's eyes glanced down to my fidgeting feet before he got off the armchair.

"Of course, Sang baby," he nodded, waving towards the hallway. "Lead the way."

I hurried down the hallway with North at my heels and quickly opened Nathan's door.

"Is something wrong?" North asked, following me into the room and shutting the door behind him. "Are you tired? We can call off the movie night and go to bed now."

"No, I'm fine," I shook my head, turning to face him and tilting my head back to see his eyes. "Um, remember when we were swimming earlier?"

"Yeah," North answered as his brow creased, looking at me in confusion. He stepped forward, bringing both hands up to rest gently on my waist. "What about it, baby?"

"Well," I gulped, placing my hands on North's stomach and stepping slightly closer. I couldn't get myself to exploit his chest right now, but with his thumbs rubbing small circles on the skin underneath my shirt, I needed to touch him. "I would like to call in my favor."

There was a beat of silence as North watched me before his eyebrows rose in surprise.

"And what's your favor?" North's voice dropped slightly as his eyes lost their confusion. They held a new intensity as he watched me, and I suddenly wished more than anything that I had two favors to use.

"Oh," was all I could say for a moment as his hands sneaked up an inch further under my shirt. North stepped closer, bending exceedingly low for him as he placed a soft kiss on the side of my neck.

"What's the favor, Sang baby?" He muttered, his voice sounded slightly throaty as he kissed a trail up my neck until he reached my ear. "I'll do anything."

 _Anything_ , my mind echoed as I gripped his shirt tightly between both fists. _Anything._

"Just say the word," North whispered against my ear before taking my earlobe between his lips and nibbling on it.

"Makeup!" I blurted out before I lost every trace of rational thought. It seemed to do the job as North stiffened slightly before letting go of my earlobe and backing up a little. His hands still grasped my hips as I held onto his shirt like a lifeline.

"What?" North asked, looking at me like I'd just told him fruit was bad for you.

"Makeup," I declared again, this time in slight victory as the spell North's ministrations had put on me started to lift.

"What about it?" North asked bluntly.

"That's my favor," I explained, now feeling a little unsure. "I want to do your makeup."

"Fuck no," North shot back immediately, shaking his head.

"But North, you said _anything,"_ I argued, raising an eyebrow at him. "Are you really going to go back on your word?"

North stared down at me for a few tense, silent moments before jerking his head in a nod.

"Fuck," he cursed, letting go of my waist and storming towards the door. "Fine."

"North, if you don't want to-"

"No, Sang. I'll do it," he cut me off while opening the door and turning towards me expectantly. After a tense face-off of us staring at each other in the silence, I sighed and stepped forward.

"Thank you," I whispered, walking through the door and waiting for him to join me. I slid my hand into North's as we walked down the hallway, and he gave mine a squeeze.

"Just no lip liner," North grumbled right before we reached the living room.

"Deal," I grinned, squeezing his hand back as we entered the room.

The boys were all looking up at us expectantly, a few with wary eyes as they took in North's closed off face.

"So?" Gabriel pressed, looking at me pointedly.

"Oh! He'll do it," I grinned triumphantly, looking up at North as he rolled his eyes.

" _That doesn't make you a man, North,_ " Luke mimicked North's earlier words with a grin.

"Fuck off, Lucy," North grumbled, tugging me towards the armchair and pulling me into his lap as he sat down. I snuggled into his warmth and looked to Gabriel for instructions.

"Alright, here's how we're gonna do this shit," Gabriel announced, waving a hand towards the floor. "I want all of you fuckers lined up on the floor."

"What about you, Gabe?" Victor pressed suspiciously, slowly getting up from the couch.

"I'll be in the fucking line, too," Gabriel rolled his eyes, picking up a scarf and motioning me over. "Now everyone pick a spot! Trouble, get your pretty ass over here."

Getting off North's lap, I walked curiously over to Gabriel and reached out to feel the soft silk of the scarf he held.

"Alright, Trouble, there's not actually much to plan," Gabriel explained, dropping his voice to a whisper so only I could hear him. "You've got free reign, so do whatever you want to us. If you have a question or need help, just ask me, but I'm leaving everything up to you."

"O-okay," I stuttered, already feeling a little anxious at the pressure.

"Trouble, it's a good thing," Gabriel smiled, handing me the scarf. "Not a bad one. I've got an extra little game for you, too."

"Does it have to do with this?" I asked, looking at the scarf.

"Yep," Gabriel grinned, nodding his head towards the boys who were all arguing amongst themselves as they tried to decide who should sit where. "I want you to pick out an accessory for each of these fuckers, then try to match their makeup to whatever you chose."

"Oh, that sounds fun," I admitted, looking towards the bag of goodies Gabriel had gotten.

"Most of our undercover wear is at The Academy, but I snagged some we had here plus some of your things," Gabriel explained quietly before walking towards the other boys. "Alright, let's do this shit!"

"Hmm," I hummed, looking towards the scarf in my hands then at the boys as they finished getting settled. Okay, I could do this. Taking a deep breath for courage, I set the scarf down and clasped both hands behind my back.

I looked to the left and saw Luke at the front of the line. As our eyes met, he wiggled his eyebrows at me with a mischievous grin.

"Since you already did me, Cupcake, I'm going to be your assistant," he grinned.

"Kota!" North bellowed from the other end of the line, and I watched in fascination as Kota hit Luke over the side of his head.

"Kota?" I asked worriedly, looking between him and Luke in confusion.

"Don't worry about it, Cupcake," Luke winked with the grin still spread across his face. "I deserved that one."

Unsure what to say, I picked up a green headband with white flowers on it from the pile and headed towards Kota.

"Guess I'm first, Sweetie," Kota smiled nervously as I kneeled in front of him. I gave his face a critical look as I'd seen Gabriel do to me, but my eyes weren't ready for a reminder of how handsome Kota's features were. Up close, his bone structure was striking.

"Luke, can you please bring the makeup kit over?" I asked, bringing up the headband and placing it on gently Kota's head. His hair had grown out a little, and the part that was pulled back stuck straight up behind the headband. It looked adorable.

"Yes, ma'am!" Luke chirped, giving me a quick salute before retrieving the makeup case.

Feeling a weighted silence, I looked around to see all of the boys watching me and Kota. My body hummed with nerves.

"Um, aren't you guys going to do something else when it's not your turn?" I asked hopefully as Luke set the makeup kit down next to me.

"And miss you turning Kota into a girl?" Luke snorted. "No way."

"If it makes Aggele uncomfortable, we can do something else," Silas spoke forcefully, hearing my silent pleas. "Besides, the Red Sox game started about ten minutes ago. It's their first game in Spring Training."

"I've got it," Nathan responded, leaning back to grab the flipper off the coffee table and aim it towards the TV.

An announcer's voice sounded throughout the room, and I sagged slightly in relief. That was a little less pressure now.

"This is all for fun, Sang," Kota told me gently, smiling as he stuck a hand into the makeup kit then held out a random object to me. "Now work your magic."

"Thanks, Kota," I muttered appreciatively, accepting the roll-on shimmer gel from him with twitching lips. "You know this will make your skin sparkle, right?"

Kota's face paled slightly as he looked at the bottle in surprise before he sighed resignedly, "I had no idea they even made stuff like that."

I opened the bottle with a giggle and leaned forward, placing the rolling side against his cheek. Carefully, I rolled the shimmer all over his cheeks and nose, watching in delight as it left a trail of glitter in it's path. Unable to stop myself, I ran the gel over his forehead and down on his chin as well.

Luke was sniggering behind me, but Kota just kept staring forward with steely determination in his eyes.

Figuring this must be a pretty big sacrifice for boys to make, I pulled the bottle back and leaned forward to rub my nose softly against Kota's in an eskimo kiss. He jumped slightly at the movement, before rubbing back against me.

"Thank you for doing this for me, Kota," I whispered gratefully, pulling back with the smile.

"Oh God, Ten," Kota looked at my face in slight horror. "You've got a million sparkles on your nose. Is that all over my face right now?"

Hearing Kota's voice reach such a high pitch plus the fact that he was covered in glitter was too much for me, and I burst into giggles.

"Holy shit," Nathan breathed from a couple spots over. "You look like a stripper."

"And how do you know what a stripper looks like?" Victor asked in disbelief.

"I've seen movies," Nathan explained defensively, his words causing a tension to leave my shoulders that I hadn't even realized was there.

"Don't listen to them, Kota," I murmured, pulling a case of eyeshadow out of the bag. "I like it."

Kota's ears tinted red as he smiled at me, and I found a circle of eye-shadow that was a just slightly lighter green than his headband.

"Close your eyes," I whispered, rubbing the wand to get a good amount of product on it before leaning forwards. Gently running the wand side to side on each of his eyelids, I realized I was close enough that Kota and I were breathing the same air. My hand slowed to a halt as I started to study his face close-up

"Come on, ref!" North bellowed, making me jump as I quickly leaned back from Kota. "That was a fucking strike!"

"North, do you remember any of your reconnaissance training?" Victor asked. "The camera isn't even at the right angle for us to tell if it's a strike or not."

"It was a strike," North barked confidently. "Straight down the middle."

"Can I open my eyes now?" Kota asked quietly, when I still hadn't moved.

"Oh, yes," I stammered, focusing on the makeup kit as I rummaged through it.

"Need any help, Sang?" Luke asked from behind me, and I turned to see him rolling the glimmer up and down his arm.

"Actually, could you please pick out an accessory for Victor, Luke?" I asked, pulling out a tube of light pink lipgloss and turning back to Kota.

"Last thing," I promised, bending forward and sliding the gloss quickly over both of his lips. The gloss built up on one side of his mouth, so I used my thumb to smooth it down. "Done!"

Kota sighed with slight relief as I sat back to check over my work. The sparkles were definitely a bit much, but I liked the eye-shadow with his headband. They made his green eyes look even brighter than usual.

"Beautiful," I breathed out, only realizing I'd said it out loud when Kota cleared his throat and looked away. I blushed before giving him a smile. "Thank you, Kota."

"Anytime, Ten," he assured me before seeming to think twice about it. "Actually, not _anytime._ But... well...you know what I mean."

"I do," I giggled, grabbing the makeup case and bringing it with me as I scooted to my next victim. "Victor!"

"Hi, Princess," he greeted me, his perfect teeth almost blinding me with his smile. "What've you got planned for me?"

"I'm going to make you a star," I said confidently, turning to see Luke rummaging through the bag of goodies. "Luke?"

"Almost got it, Cupcake," he called back. I turned towards the makeup and started planning. Seconds later, Luke plopped down beside me and held out a what I first thought was a cat.

"Oh, a wig?" I asked, taking the blonde contraption from him and holding it out. There were giant, flirty curls and it would be a little shorter than shoulder length on Victor. "It's perfect!"

"This must be a joke," Victor murmured as he stared at the wig with pure dread.

"I promise it's just for a little while, and it's going to look so good on you," I said softly, leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for letting me do this, Victor."

"Like I could ever say no to you, Princess," he sighed in resignation and leaned forward. I quickly placed the wig atop his head, tugging a few times to make sure it was even before sitting back on my heels. Victor sat back, and I was shocked my the transformation. Victor always had a beautiful face, but this wig made him look almost...delicate.

Victor was tough to plan for. His fire eyes were so expressive and changed as swiftly as his emotions, anything I added to his eyes would just take away from them.

"Lipstick," I ordered, holding out an open palm to Luke.

"Lipstick," he repeated, placing it in my hand. I opened the tube, happy to see that it was a bright red, and leaned forward. "Don't worry, Prince. Since I'm making you wear the wig, I'm only adding one thing of makeup.

"Not fair!" Kota cried from beside me, but I gave him a warning look.

Victor gave me a quick smile before resting his lips, and I slid the lipstick back and forth. It was harder than it looked in the makeup commercials, as his lips kept moving with each movement I made. I may have smeared a little bit on his skin, but wiping it with my thumb just smeared it more.

"Ah, Sang! That's my tooth," Victor interrupted my concentration, and I saw that one of his front teeth had been nicked with the red stain.

"Oops," I whispered, backing up and putting the cap back on. "I'm so sorry, Victor..."

"It's fine," he waved me off, bringing a finger up and rubbing it aggressively against his tooth. "Just surprised me."

I winced at the smeared lipstick, having missed more of his lips than I had first thought, but gave him a bright smile.

"All finished!" I announced, quickly moving to the next spot in the line before he asked for a mirror. "You look beautiful, Victor."

"Thank you, Princess," he responded, but it sounded like he wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment or not.

"Hi Honey," I smiled as soon as Nathan looked away from the game when he saw me in front of him.

"Hi Peanut," he smiled back, his hand reaching out like lightning as he brought my hand up to his face and popped a finger in his mouth.

"Luke, can you please get a fall scarf?" I asked, not taking my eyes off Nathan's as he chewed lightly. "Not orange or red, though."

"Yes, Senpai," Luke bowed before hurrying off to the bag again. He came back two seconds later with a mustard yellow infinity scarf as I freed my finger from Nathan's mouth. "How's this?"

"Great," I chirped, taking the scarf and flinging it over Nathan's head. It didn't clash too badly with his hair, but now I was at a loss for what to do with his makeup. Maybe the bronzer would go well with his complexion?

"How about this?" Luke asked, holding up a red pencil.

"A lip pencil?" I asked, brightening at the idea.

"No, this one is an eyebrow pencil," Luke explained, turning it over in his hands and reading the front. "It's to make them look fuller and add shape."

"Fuck no!" Nathan exclaimed, leaning back on his hands. "My eyebrows don't need any shaping."

"And you think Kota needed glitter?" Luke shot back, causing Kota to grunt as he watched the game.

"Please, Honey?" I asked, pouting a tiny bit.

"Fine," Nathan sighed, sitting up and closing his eyes. "Just make it quick."

I scooted closer until my knees were touching Nathan's shins, taking the pencil from Luke as I did. Popping off the cap, I turned the pencil over in my hand a few times before looking at Nathan's brows. The pencil was a much darker color than his hair, which I quickly realized as I began tracing the shape of his eyebrows.

"This is neat," I muttered quietly to Luke, coloring in Nathan's right eyebrow when I finished outlining it. After sitting back and deciding I was satisfied with my work, I moved onto his left eyebrow while ignoring Luke's snickering.

After I finished the left eyebrow, I sat back and noticed they were uneven and very, very bright red. Nathan's right eyebrow had more shape to it, while the left one was half an inch longer. I leant forward, trying to make the right one a little longer, but then it almost looked like a unibrow and they were still uneven. Unable to see a different solution, I quickly colored in the middle.

"Are you giving me a unibrow?" Nathan asked in disbelief as Luke stopped trying to stifle his laughter.

"I'm sorry!" I cringed, pulling back when I was finished. "It was uneven, and then I didn't know how to..."

My explanation was cut off by my own laughter when Nathan opened his eyes and I saw just what affect the unibrow had on his upset face.

"I'm so sorry," I gasped out, placing the pencil back in the makeup kit.

"Okay, I think that's enough for Nathan," Luke managed to say through his laughter as he grabbed my waist and scooted me over. "Silas's turn."

I gave Nathan another apologetic look before turning towards my Superman.

"Silas?" I asked when his gaze remained locked on the screen over my head.

"Aggele?" He responded distantly, and I smiled. It was a rare sight to see Silas distracted.

"Superman," I prodded quietly, placing a hand on his knee as Luke slid the makeup kit next to me. Silas seemed to catch himself and smiled down at me.

"Hi, Aggele," he greeted warmly, placing his hand over mine as I smiled back.

"Luke?" I called, motioning him to come closer so I could whisper in his ear. I quietly told him what to look for in the accessories, and he took off.

"What do you have planned for me, Aggele mou?" Silas's rich voice asked, and I took a deep breath. Silas's expression was open and interested, he wasn't nervous about me painting his face like the others. My heart warmed at his trust and acceptance; maybe this was an acceptable pastime over in Greece?

"I'm going to make you a goddess," I confided quietly, watching his eyes light up.

"Well, you won't have far to go, considering I'm already a god," Silas's chest puffed out, causing North to snort from his spot on the other side of Gabriel. I giggled at his playfulness as Luke slid back onto the floor beside me.

"I couldn't find what you wanted, and there were no gold headbands, but I did find this," Luke explained, holding out a beautiful, bold gold necklace. It looked like a mixture of greek and egyptian jewelry. I accepted it with a thank you, and turned toward Silas.

"I've got it, Sang," he smiled, taking the necklace from me with no complaints and sliding it over his head. With such a thick neck, it looked more like a choker around Silas, but he didn't look bothered.

"Thank you, Superman," I grinned, turning towards the makeup kit again. I had big plans for my gentle giant.

Pulling out powder first, I dipped a big brush in it before kneeling in front of Silas. It was a little harder than the other boys, because Silas was so tall. I tried to lean forward, but his legs were so long I could barely reach his cheeks with the brush. Placing a hand on his chest for stability, I tried to stretch further.

Before I knew what had happened, strong arms were picking me up at the waist and setting me in a straddling position on his lap.

"Can you reach now, Aggele?" Silas murmured in amusement as soon as I was settled, his hands still resting on my waist.

"Y-yes," I stuttered, trying not to think of how intimate our position was as I started to rub the powder on his face.

His body rumbled with silent laughter beneath me, but I focused on the task at hand.

"You're doing great, Trouble," Gabriel admired from beside me as he watched me work.

"Thank you, Meanie," I smiled, handing the powder to Luke and pointing to an eye shadow case. Luke traded items with me, and I opened the eye shadow and zoned in on a bright, gold color.

"Close your eyes, Silas," I ordered, rubbing the wand to get a lot of gold on it. Silas followed my instructions, and I scooted forward to get a better angle.

"Stay still, Aggele," Silas spoke suddenly, clearing his throat as his grip tightening on my waist.

"Sorry," I quickly apologized, keeping every muscle but my arm still as I quickly ran the wand back and forth over one of his eyelids. I hope I hadn't hurt him.

"A little more on the bottom there, Sang," Gabriel said, pointing towards Silas's eyelashes. I followed his directions before moving to the other eye. Sitting on Silas in such an intimate position was making me nervous, so I quickly tried to finish up the eye-shadow.

"Ow!" Silas cried, pulling back as he brought a hand up to cover his eye. "γαμώ! το μάτι μου!"

"Shit! Silas, are you okay?" Gabriel asked as I sat there frozen.

"γαμώ," Silas muttered, taking his hand away and blinking hard a few times. "Aggele, you stabbed my eye."

"I'm so sorry, Silas!" I cried, my nerves taking over as I tried to get off his lap, but his other hand held me still. "I, I-"

"It's fine," Silas said, still blinking rapidly and tilting his head towards the light. "I can still see. You want to explain why you're trying to blind me, though?"

"I didn't mean to," I muttered pathetically, chewing on my lip.

"I might need to start calling you _diávolos mou,_ " Silas said with a huff of laughter as he stopped blinking and rubbed his eye lightly.

"What does that mean?" I asked nervously.

"My devil," Silas answered with a warm grin, and my face fell.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Silas," I shook my head, looking at his eye. "Should I call Dr. Sean? Do you need him to look at it?"

"Relax, Aggele. I'm fine," Silas assured me, running his hand up and down my side. "It was just a surprise."

"Maybe I'll do Gabriel's makeup now, just incase," I suggested, setting the eyeshadow down beside us and starting to get off his lap again.

"You don't have to, Sang," Silas sighed, but let go off my side so I could scoot back onto the floor.

"It's okay," I tried to smile, grabbing onto the makeup kit and scooting it with me. "The commercials are over anyways, you should watch the game."

Silas simply rolled his eyes, but gave me a quick wink before turning back to the game. That eyeshadow really did look good on him.

"What've you got planned for me, Trouble?" Gabriel asked with a big grin. I took a deep breath, trying not to think of all the mishaps I'd caused so far. I had no idea makeup could be so violent. I gave Gabriel a warm smile before turning to Luke, who was already holding out a neon orange scarf to me.

"Perfect!" I cried, taking the scarf and looking towards Gabriel's hair. "I've got big plans for you, Meanie."

"Do your worst," Gabriel said, closing his eyes and sitting patiently. I scooted forward, eyeing the scarf again and wondering exactly how to do this. I stretched out the scarf so I could see exactly where the middle was, then pinched that spot and placed is off-center near the front of Garbriel's hair. Looping it down to the back of his neck like a headband then back around to the front again, I tied the two ends together in the best bow I could manage. Leaning back, I took in the bow and decided it'd have to do.

Looking at Luke, he already had my next item ready. I accepted the powder and dipped one of the large brushes inside before painting it all over Gabriel's face. His nose twitched when I ran the brush underneath it, but otherwise he stayed completely still.

 _Blush,_ I signed with my freehand to Luke as I finished out the powder. Luke traded me another case for this one, and I opened it to see a light pink color. Dipping a smaller brush in, I painted Gabriel's high cheekbones before turning back to the makeup kit.

 _What color?_ I signed to Luke before pointing at the eye-shadow. Luke looked over Gabriel with a critical eye before pointing at a fuschia color. I raised an eyebrow at him, but Luke just grinned.

Shaking my head, I picked up the fuschia and rubbed a clean wand over it. Leaning forward I started running it back and forth over Gabriel's eyelids. After doing this a few times now, it was getting easier and I didn't smear it as much.

"Luke fucking talked you into something stupid, didn't he?" Gabriel asked calmly with his eyes still shut. My jaw dropped in surprise, but Luke just cackled with laughter.

"Don't worry, Gabby, you'll be beautiful," he sniggered, digging through the makeup case for our next weapon.

Gabriel mumbled curses under his breath, but I leaned forward and lightly kissed his nose.

"I think you look bright and bold, Gabriel," I assured him, finishing up the last of the eye-shadow.

"Thanks, Trouble," he muttered back, and I stifled a smile. Of course boys would have an ego about how pretty they'd look as a girl.

Luke handed me a tube of mascara, and I quickly ran it over Gabriel's eyelashes, realizing too late that it was _blue_ mascara.

 _Luke!_ I signed with a glare, not wanting to upset Gabriel by calling him out loud on it.

Luke just smiled innocently and pointed to Gabriel's other eye. With a sigh, I applied the mascara and slid off his lap.

"All done!" I smiled, catching my breath as Gabriel opened his eyes. Yes, it was a lot of color. A lot. But...it _worked._ The blue mascara highlighted Gabriel's eyes and made them even more mesmerizing, while the orange and fuschia made him look like he was going to a fun, fall festival. I liked it.

"What the fuck did you do?" Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Luke, who simply grinned. I ignored the two as they started to bicker and pulled the makeup kit with me towards North.

"I'm going to get some drinks for everyone," Gabriel announced, hopping off the floor with Luke following after him. There goes my assistant.

Looking towards the bag of goodies, I bit my lip as I saw something I'd been wanting to use all night but wasn't sure if anyone would let me.

"What is it, Sang Baby?" North asked curiously, reading my face as usual.

"Well," I took my eyes off the bag and looked back at North. "I was just thinking about one of the accessories, but I don't think you'd like it very much."

"Sang," North winced before taking a deep breath. "You're using your favor on this. Do anything you want, I won't mind."

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly, picturing his reaction to the certain accessory.

" _Anything,_ " North emphasized, those bottomless chocolate eyes searing into mine.

"Alright," I whispered, biting my lip to hide a smile as I hopped off the floor and rushed over to Gabriel's bag. I snatched the big, pink feathered boa off the top and hurried back to North.

Quickly looping the boa around his neck, I waited for his reaction. After a loaded pause, North made a strangled sound but leaned forward and easily pulled me onto his lap. My eyes widened at the action, but he just gave me a slightly pained smirk back.

"If I'm going to go through with this, you're going to be on my lap for it," he explained, situating both of my knees to straddle him before placing both hands on my thighs. I heard Silas trying to stifle his laughter beside us, but I couldn't look over in case we both lost it. North was near the end of his rope as it was.

"I was thinking of trying something new on you," I whispered hopefully, fidgeting nervously in North's lap.

"I'm not going to like it, am I?" He asked with a grunt, moving his hands up to grip my hips.

"Probably not," I admitted, staring into his intense eyes. "I wanted to try eye-liner."

"Fuck," North cursed under his breath, closing his eyes again before mutely nodding.

I couldn't help but feel like I was taking advantage of North's kindness. But I'd seen pictures of boys like North with eye-liner on, and it was...hot. I'd seen it on boys in bands or just guys wearing leather jackets, and my heartbeat sped up at the idea of North wearing it. Trying to calm myself, I leaned back and fished a black eye-liner pencil out of the makeup kit.

"Keep your eyes closed, North Star," I ordered softly, bringing the pencil up and trying to stop my hand from shaking. Tracing his eyelids with care, I tried to make the lines as precise as possible. I'd done my own eye-liner before, so I was used to this part. It was actually easier doing it on someone else. The bottom line was a little more difficult, because I only ever did the top line on myself.

Holding one hand against North's cheek, I moved to the other eye and ran the pencil carefully over that one as well.

"Okay, open your eyes," I breathed out, not bothering to lean back this time.

Any breath that was still in my lungs left in a fell swoop as North's eyes flew open and connected with mine. We were close enough to share the same air, and I was completely, one hundred percent, undeniably correct about the eye-liner.

North looked like a sex idol, and my mouth began to water.

With his eyes locked on mine and those charcoal lines doing something magical to the brown orbs, my body seemed to have a mind of it's own as I fidgeted in his lap. I don't think it was from nerves, because the feeling I was experiencing right now definitely wasn't nervousness.

"Sang baby, don't squirm like that," North grunted, his eyes breaking contact with mine as his grip stilled my hips.

I blinked a few times to try and clear my head, but my eyelids felt heavier than usual. Was I sleepy? I had started breathing again, but it felt heavy and forced.

"Sang," North bit out through clenched teeth as I tried to scoot forward on his lap. I felt his phone digging into my thigh from his pants, but I could've sworn I'd collected all of their phones in the bag. North cursed again before looking up at me. "You don't-...oh, fuck."

"North?" I whispered, my eyes still glued to the eye-liner on his face. He was looking at me with sudden realization, and his tongue caught my attention as it snuck out to lick his lips.

"You're turned on," he stated quietly with slight amazement. his grip tightening on my waist.

"Oh," I whispered back stupidly, all words seeming to take a backseat in my mind.

"I am, too," North admitted as he moved my hips slightly forward on his lap, his voice laced with a huskiness that affected me the same way his eye-liner did. It was then that I realized it definitely wasn't his phone prodding my thigh.

"Oh," I repeated, flickering my gaze between his eyes and lips.

"Are you finished with the makeup?" North pressed gently, running his forefingers back and forth across my hips.

"No," I admitted honestly, but not able to expand any further. North's lips grew into a smirked as he moved me back slightly on his lap.

"Then let's finish this shit and we can get back to your other favor," he said, his voice losing most of the huskiness as he cleared his throat.

Trying my best not to fidget on his lap while simultaneously trying to remember how to form words longer than one syllable, I leaned back and grabbed a tube of lipstick.

"Okay," I muttered distractedly, but was pleasantly surprised with myself that I'd managed to string two syllables together. Realizing I may have lost myself for the third time in front of the boys, I ducked my head and glanced toward the rest of the room. Victor and Nathan had switched the baseball game back to car racing, while Kota was on Nathan's iPad. Gabriel and Luke were still gone, but I found Silas's kind eyes looking straight back at me.

"Don't worry, Aggele. Nobody is judging you," Silas assured me with a warm smile. "Nor would they judge you if they did see."

Managing a shaky smile, I turned back to North and held up the tube of lipstick. As long as I kept my eyes off his eyeliner, I was able to shake off the unexpected excitement that'd hit me a moment ago. Focusing on his twitching lips, I tried to determine how to apply it without smearing red all over North's face like I had Victor's. I had just come up with a plan of action, when the last voice I expected to hear stopped me in my tracks.

"Would somebody care to inform me why my team has not answered a single phone call over the past hour?" A smooth, controlled voice spoke from the entryway with such authority that everyone in the room froze. With the lipstick tube stopped halfway to North's lips, our eyes met and widened in mirrored horror.

As my stomach pooled with dread, I turned slightly towards the foyer.

"And no, 'getting makeovers' is not a suitable answer," Dr. Sean beamed gleefully from his spot next to an expressionless Mr. Blackbourne.

 **A/N: "γαμώ! το μάτι μου!" = "Fuck! My eye!"**


	7. Red Lip, Classic (Part III)

**A/N: Agh! _really_ doesn't like my mac. Reloading this one because the format was messed up on it...**

 **Red Lip, Classic (Part III)**

I guiltily slid off North's lap, my gaze dropping to the carpet as an uncomfortable silence settled into the room.

"Um," Kota uncharacteristically mumbled, and I started picking at the carpet to give my nervous fingers something to do. "We weren't...we didn't..."

"Boys, you all get an hour tomorrow. I expect all of you to know better," Mr. Blackbourne spoke calmly, not moving from his position in the entryway.

"Yes, Sir," they all muttered dutifully.

"Be awake and in Mr. Lee's backyard by 0600," Mr. Blackbourne continued somewhat stiffly. "Do not-"

"Who wants some ice, cold-oh fuck! Mr. B?" Gabriel stopped in his tracks in the kitchen doorway, Luke bumping into his back and causing both to stumble a step before righting themselves. Gabriel's features paled as he took a look around the room. "Shit."

Dr. Sean's fading chuckles turned into full blown laughter again as he saw the newcomers' makeup. My eyes were distracted for a moment as I saw something sparkly out of the corner of my eye. When I looked up at Luke's legs, I realized any visible skin from the bottom of his shorts to the tips of his toes was covered in body glitter.

What was I going to do with that boy?

"Mr. Coleman and Mr. Taylor, how nice of you to join us," Mr. Blackbourne continued, his expression blank as he regarded to the boys in front of us. "As I was just telling the others, we will be meeting up tomorrow for an hour at Mr. Lee's residence. Be there at 0600, and-"

"But tonight's a sleepover night!" Gabriel interrupted in disbelief, some of the liquid from his cups sloshing over their edges as he flung his arms out.

"And you acted irresponsibly," Mr. Blackbourne responded with narrowed eyes on Gabriel. That was two interruptions now. "I am attempting to be fair by not lecturing all of you tonight, as to not spoil the fun."

"Little late for the, O-Man," Dr. Sean snorted, sending me a wink

"We will discuss this fully after the hour tomorrow," Mr. Blackbourne continued as if Dr. Sean hadn't spoken. "But for now I will simply say that I expected better from all of you."

Mr. Blackbourne's gaze roamed unflinchingly over each of us until they reached mine. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the empty feeling in my stomach was making it slightly harder to breathe. After torturous seconds of staring into his expressionless face, Mr. Blackbourne finally broke his stare with a sigh.

"We have been over this a hundred times," Mr. Blackbourne turned back to the entire group while walking further into the room, and my eyes trailed to where his black, leather shoes were pacing back and forth in front of our line. "What have I told you boys about vigilance?"

"Owen, give it a rest," Dr. Sean sighed, kicking off his spot leaning against the mantle. "I think being caught in the act is punishment enough, and now is not the time to ruin their fun."

"Sean, this is an important matter that I will not take lightly," Mr. Blackbourne shot back, his voice serious. "They've been trained better than this."

"Mr. Blackbourne, may I have the floor?" Kota spoke up for the second time since the eldest two in our group announced their presence. He was so brave.

"If it's constructive, you may," Mr. Blackbourne said, and I looked up to see him nodding stiffly.

"It was just temporary," Kota tried to reason, not moving from his spot on the floor. "We weren't-"

"Temporary?" Mr. Blackbourne cut him off with a disapproving glare. "You have those phones for a reason, Mr. Lee. They are to be on you at _all_ times. What if Dr. Green or I had red-lined you?"

Kota simply hung his head in lieu of a response, and I felt North shifting uncomfortably next to me.

"Owen, I think that's enough now," Dr. Sean spoke more forcefully. "They're just having a bit of fun, so stop being a wet blanket."

"They can have fun while still being responsible," Mr. Blackbourne responded sharply before turning around and heading into the kitchen. "Dr. Green, a word?"

Dr. Sean gave us all an apologetic smile before they both turned around the corner.

"Shit," Gabriel mumbled with a sigh, his shoulders deflating from his place near the door.

"Are you okay, Sang Baby?" North asked softly, turning towards me. I knew those brown eyes of his would be filled with concern, but I couldn't risk looking at his eye liner in case it made me lightheaded again.

"Yeah, I'm just sorry I got us all in trouble," I apologized, picking at the carpet again with shaky hands and avoiding everyone's eyes.

North snorted before placing his hand around my shoulders and pulling me into a warm embrace against his side.

"Don't you dare try and take all the credit, Sang," North mock-scolded me in his gruff voice. "We all decided to do this, and it was worth it."

"It was worth an hour and Mr. Blackbourne's anger?" I asked back sarcastically. The carpet had stolen my attention, but I didn't miss the air shift or the scent of musk grow stronger as North leaned in close to me.

"It was worth it to see your eyes light up," North whispered against my ear, causing a light blush to stain my cheeks. "The list of things I wouldn't do to see you happy is very short and consists of a handful of things that would land me in jail. A little exercise and Mr. B's lecture are nowhere close."

"Oh, well, ditto," I answered back distantly, warmed by his words. North chuckled lowly in my ear before leaning back, but his arm remained wrapped around me.

"Trouble, you thirsty?" Gabriel asked as he kneeled in front of me and held out a cup of water.

"Yes please," I answered as I accepted the cup, clearing my throat before taking a sip.

"Mr. B. can't be too mad," Luke tried to reason from behind Gabriel. I admired the the light contrast between the blue and pink eyeshadow on his lids. "Otherwise he would've cancelled the sleepover."

"You know he would never do that to Peanut," Nathan shook his head from his spot down the line.

Luke broke into loud laughter, and the rest of us turned to him in alarm.

"Sorry," Luke gasped through his laughter, eyes shining as he grasped his sides with both arms. "But Nate, oh man, your unibrow is just too much right now."

Nathan grumbled as the rest of the boys tried to stifle their laughter, and I did my best not to giggle when his unibrow dipped lower as he glared at Luke.

"Why don't we all get cleaned up?" Victor suggested as he got up from the floor. His red lipstick seemed even more smeared than earlier, and I cringed when I noticed there was more caked on his face than his lips.

"No! Sit your ass back down, Vicky," Gabriel ordered, pointing to the floor.

"Why Vicky?" Luke asked, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "Why not Victoria?"

Victor's blonde wig wiggled back and forth as he fiercely shook his head, but Gabriel's eyes lit up.

"You're right. Victoria is better," he agreed with a nod before turning towards Victor. "We did this for Trouble and we are _not_ washing it off until she's finished!"

"Finished?" Mr. Blackbourne echoed as he silently stepped back into the room. My shoulders automatically stood as tall as possible and North gave my arm a quick squeeze before letting go. "As far as I can see, Miss Sorenson is finished. Or was nail polish next on the list?"

My ears perked up with interest, despite Mr. Blackbourne's sarcastic tone, but Gabriel shook his head.

"She hasn't finished North's makeup yet," he stated firmly, and I was mesmerized as Gabriel held his stare.

There wasn't much this man wouldn't do in the name of fashion, including standing up to Mr. Blackbourne.

"Miss Sorenson, is that correct?" Mr. Blackbourne bit out, turning towards me.

"Um, I don't need to...," I trailed off, looking between North and the lipstick case before turning back to Mr. Blackbourne. "I'm finished."

Mr. Blackbourne pursed his lips while studying me in silence. I wanted to shift uncomfortably under his gaze, but something inside of me stayed strong as I remained still.

"Owen, what did we just discuss?" Dr. Sean spoke quietly, but firmly from beside the expressionless man. I held my breath while waiting to see what happened. "Just because you're too scared to join in doesn't mean you have to stop their fun."

"You think I'm afraid to let Sang apply makeup to my face?" Mr. Blackbourne accused, whirling around to glare at his friend. I let out a breath as I realized where this conversation was going. The gleam in Dr. Sean's eyes showed he did as well as he simply shrugged.

"Miss Sorenson, finish up with Mr. Taylor," Mr. Blackbourne ordered as he walked towards us and elegantly sank down into a sitting position on the floor. "I'm next."

He said it so casually, but I don't think he knew just what he was asking of me.

My fingers shook as I turned back to North, unsteadily unscrewing the top of the lipstick case.

"You're okay, baby," North smiled gently as I moved to kneel in front of him again. I looked at his warm smile, the eyeliner around his eyes still doing something funny to my belly, and the bright pink boa wrapped around his neck.

I never imagined I'd see North like this, but it warmed my heart that I could.

"Sang, red lipstick doesn't really go with the pink," Gabriel observed from behind me as my slightly more steady hand reached the lipstick out to North.

"I know," I whispered, rubbing it gently back and forth against North's naturally pouty lips. Those lips twisted slightly as I started working, and I grinned.

"You'll need to stop scowling long enough for me to finish this lipstick, North!" I laughed, making him grunt.

He remained staring determinately ahead as I swiped a light coat of lipstick on both his lips. Pulling back, I dropped the lipstick into the makeup kit and pulled out a pair of fake eyelashes. They were big, dark, and perfect for North.

"Really, Sang Baby?" North grimaced, seeing what I had in my hand.

"Please, North?" I asked hopefully, knowing he couldn't deny me this. I knew I was taking advantage of him, but I couldn't seem to stop myself.

Something between a growl and a moan left his throat, but North mutely nodded in resignation. I leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on his cheek before leaning back and opening the package.

"How do these work, Gabriel?" I asked curiously, pulling out a little tube from the package.

"That's the glue," Gabriel explained, pointing at the tube. "First, you put that on the very edge of the fake lashes. Then North closes his eyes, and you can attach them to the top of his eyelids. Try not to get too much of the glue on his actual lashes, because it can rip them out sometimes."

"Fuck," North cursed softly, closing his eyes.

I opened the glue case and squirted some carefully on one of the fake eyelashes. Leaning forward, I meticulously lined them up against his eyelid and pushed it down gently. It lined up with his natural eyelashes almost perfectly when I was finished and I beamed proudly.

"Nice one, Trouble," Gabriel praised, patting my thigh. "Now the other one."

I repeated the actions, but this time the fake eyelashes ended up a little off-center. It wasn't too noticeable, but I was too late to adjust them as the glue was already sticking.

"So how'd you get roped into this, North?" Dr. Sean asked gleefully as he plopped down next to Mr. Blackbourne and leaned closer to look at my masterpiece.

"I owed Sang a favor," North grumbled, his hand coming up to rub his lips before I swatted it away.

"And you didn't ask Miss Sorenson what it was before agreeing?" Mr. Blackbourne prompted from where he remained motionless next to us.

"I was hoping she'd ask for a sexual favor," North grumbled as he looked up, unknowingly batting his fake eyelashes at me as he blinked them in annoyance. The way they framed his dark, fierce eyes had me taking a deep breath to stabilize myself. "Are you done, Baby?"

I wanted to say no. Wanted to keep this new North within reaching distance, but I didn't have a good excuse besides saying that he looked pretty.

"Yes, I'm finished," I nodded, then froze when I realized this meant I was doing Mr. Blackbourne's makeup now.

I didn't think it was possible to prepare for something like that.

"Miss Sorenson?" Mr. Blackbourne's voice pulled me out of my daze as North stood up, already wiping the back of his wrist across his lips. I turned hesitantly towards him, feeling my face heat as I found his steel eyes fixed on me.

"Mr. Blackbourne," I whispered in acknowledgement as his lips lifted slightly in a calming smile.

I heard Silas let out a loud snort, causing my head to snap towards him. Him and North were sitting on the couch and talking back and forth in Greek. The rest of the boys were talking amongst themselves or watching the game. I was curious as to what they were speaking about, but Mr. Blackbourne's fingers on my chin pulled my attention back to him.

"If you don't wish to do my makeup, just say the word, Miss Sorenson," he said, his fingers caressing my skin lightly. I noticed Sean get up and sprawl across the last available beanbag, sitting back to enjoy the show.

"I want to," I assured him quietly, trying my best to sound confident.

And I did want to. When would this opportunity ever present itself again?

I muddled around in the makeup kit, looking for something safe to begin with. The mascara wand drew my eye, and I decided it was a good start. I picked it up and turned back to Mr. Blackbourne's expectant face.

My hand started shaking uncontrollably as I leaned forward, holding the mascara wand in front of his face. Mr. Blackbourne's lips spread into an amused smile before his hand gently encircled my wrist.

"Miss Sorenson, I rather like my eye where it is. Maybe it would be more prudent to begin with powder?" He politely suggested, tactful as ever.

"Yes, of course," I agreed, flustered as I turned back to the makeup kit and tossed the traitorous mascara back inside. I grabbed a case of powder before turning back to him.

"Close your eyes," I ordered unsurely, never having given him a command before. "Please."

The millimeter smile remained on his face as Mr. Blackbourne closed both eyes. I took a moment to admire his relaxed face before dipping the brush in some powder and painting it lightly across his cheeks. I brushed it in as much as I could, until he had a light layer across most of his face.

I picked up a tube of light pink lipstick next, figuring this was safer than poking his eye out with the mascara.

Mr. Blackbourne's eyes fluttered open as I leaned closer, his gaze zoning in on the shaking tube of lipstick.

"Miss Sorenson, why don't we swap roles for a moment?" Mr. Blackbourne suggested quietly, causing me to flinch back with the lipstick still in my hand. Swap roles? "I'll apply the lip stain to you first, then you'll apply it to me."

I'm not sure if that was better or worse, but I offered a hesitant nod.

"Perfect," Mr. Blackbourne nodded, smoothly extracting the tube from my grip and grabbing hold of my chin again.

"Miss Sorenson, imagine that you're kissing me," Mr. Blackbourne ordered, and I swear my heart stopped for a full three seconds before kicking into overdrive.

"What?" I squeaked, eyes widening in alarm.

"It's natural to pucker-up when applying lip stains," Mr. Blackbourne pointed out, speaking calmly as I tried to tame my racing heart. When I continued to stare blankly at him, Mr. Blackbourne offered a small, sad smile. "I used to watch my mother apply her cosmetics."

"Oh," I breathed out, my heart breaking the tiniest bit as his gaze focused resolutely on the lipstick case in his hand. Mr. Blackbourne had only willingly shared information or memories about his mother with me once before, and I had absolutely no idea what to say. At a loss for words, I scooted closer until my knees touched the front of his slacks and reached out for his hand with my free one. For once, I was doing something daring without shaking like a leaf. Looking into Mr. Blackbourne's eyes, they were as closed-off as ever but my heart fluttered when his hand turned over and he slipped his fingers through mine.

Licking my lips to gather enough courage, I thought back to the last time Mr. Blackbourne kissed me. It was Wednesday to be precise, and I pushed my lips out slightly as I imagined his fitting snugly against mine.

"Good girl," Mr. Blackbourne cooed quietly, and it took every ounce of willpower in me not to blush and duck my head at the praise.

"Damn, it's a good thing she loves all of us," Gabriel's low voice carried from behind me as I focused on Mr. Blackbourne's lips. He tenderly ran the lipstick across my puckered lips, his own pressed into a flat line of concentration. "With Mr. B's game, none of us would've stood a chance if she had to choose."

There were murmurs of agreement as I dazedly watched Mr. Blackbourne's lips curl into his signature millimeter smile.

"Breathe, Sang," he instructed softly, capping the the lipstick and setting it meticulously back into a side pocket of the case. "Would you like to do mine now?"

I could still feel the light pressure of him sliding the lipstick back and forth over my lips.

"Okay," I answered hesitantly, searching around for a new lipstick color. A deep maroon drew my eye, and I plucked it from the case. Popping off the lid, I turned back to Mr. Blackbourne with a newfound confidence. Licking my lips, I leaned forward and focused on his.

He held his lips firmly in place as I slid the lipstick back and forth. They were puckered slightly, and I felt a thrill at the thought that Mr. Blackbourne might be imagining kissing me right now. The color blossomed against his pale skin, and I was fascinated by the change. It was as if even the lipstick was incapable of defying Mr. Blackbourne, as I noticed that none of it smeared around his lips.

I was breathing deeply now, and belatedly noticed that I'd placed my free hand rather high on Mr. Blackbourne's thigh to keep my balance as I worked. My eyes shot up to his like a magnet, and his molten gaze held me captive.

"Pardon me," Mr. Blackbourne cleared his throat, grasping my hand on his thigh with a gentle touch before placing it in my own lap. He stood up stiffly, avoiding eye contact. "I'll be back in a moment."

He disappeared around the corner to the sound of Dr. Sean's snickering before I turned towards the other boys.

"What now?" I asked, wondering what our next plans for the sleepover were and trying to shake off what Mr. Blackbourne's intense gaze did to me.

"Aladdin!" Gabriel cried immediately, hopping off the floor and running towards the movie cabinet. Everyone else seemed to agree as Dr. Sean placed a plastic tiara on my head and North scooped me into his arms.

Mr. Blackbourne didn't return until halfway through the movie, but by that time I was already dozing in and out of sleep against North's chest.

Sometime later I vaguely heard the boys ribbing him about his makeup prowess and just-showered appearance, then something about getting more Academy training in self-discipline.

One thing I heard loud and clear was Mr. Blackbourne telling the boys that any amount of mockery was worth it.

My pink-stained lips pulled into an involuntary smile that stayed long after I fell asleep.

 **A/N: Just in case anyone was wondering what North and Silas were muttering about in Greek:**

 **North:** Grunt, "You saw that too, right? Please tell me you saw that."

 **Silas:** Chuckle, "How could I miss it?"

 **North:** "Would it be weird if I started wearing eyeliner every day?"

 **Silas:** Snort, "If _Aggele mou_ looked at me like that because of some little black lines on my face, I wouldn't give a fuck if it was weird."


	8. Class is in Session

**A/N: Okay...I'm honestly not sure how you guys are going to react to this one. But I had such a freaking blast writing it.**

 **Please note: This takes place AFTER Sang informs the boys that she's interested in moving forward with them sexually. Without that knowledge, this would be a little creepy.**

 **Warning: If you don't want to read** ** _about_** **Sex Ed, stop here and have a nice day. :)**

 **Class is in Session**

I was going to die.

Was it physically possible to die from mortification? It must be, because I could just imagine my obituary now:

 _Sang Sorenson. 16. Died from excessive blushing._

If I didn't jump out the window first, that is.

"As their lips are getting to know each other, Dummy Dave and Mannequin Molly feel changes happening to their bodies," Dr. Sean continued lecturing as he stood behind the couch. His tone was completely professional, but I saw the slightest twitch in his lips before he pressed them firmly together and I wasn't sure if I would ever be able look him in the eye again.

"Doc, is this really necessary?" Luke asked doubtfully from beside me, looking torn between discomfort and disbelief as his eyes flickered between the mannequins sitting on a couch in front of us. "I think we all know what groping and hornyness are."

Oh boy, was it hot in here?

I tried to subtly fan my face, causing Victor to chuckle quietly from my other side.

"Thank you, Luke," I glanced up to see Dr. Sean glaring warningly at Luke. "However, the official medical terms that we will be using today are _foreplay_ and _arousal_. And while _you've_ had a Sex Ed class before, not everyone here has. It's about time you all had a refresher, anyways."

"I can just google this or something," I spoke up quietly from my spot sandwiched between Luke and Victor, knowing I was the only reason we were all going through this awkwardness in the first place.

"No. You most certainly will not, Miss Sorenson," Mr. Blackbourne steel voice from his armchair across the room and I cringed. "That is simply a disaster waiting to happen."

"I don't want to make you all...," I began before trailing off, knowing what I meant but not sure how to say it. "It's not your fault my mother never signed the permission slips. I could just..."

"Sang, it's not your fault you weren't taught these things," Dr. Sean said, smiling gently at me as his hand clasped Dummy Dave's shoulder. The hospital training mannequin's head lolled slightly to the side from the movement. "In fact, I prefer teaching you so we can make sure you have all the correct information."

"Couldn't you teach me alone, though?" I asked hopefully, my hand nervously fiddling with the hem of my skirt before Luke quickly picked it up and intertwined our fingers.

"No way in hell," North barked out as Dr. Sean opened his mouth, cutting off any reply he was about to give. "We are not leaving you and Doc alone in a room to talk about sex."

If it were possible for my face to get any redder, North's exclamation would've done it.

"Why not?" I asked quietly, looking at the other boys to see some of them snickering quietly.

"Don't mind the grumpy bear, Pookie," Dr. Sean winked, flashing his dazzling smile at me before dropping his voice to a stage whisper. "But he's right, it wouldn't be a good idea for me to teach you this one-on-one. I'm afraid I would be tempted to take a more...hands on approach."

"Oh," I said stupidly back, my mouth gaping slightly as my eyes dropped down to Dr. Sean's lips. I slowly licked my own as thoughts of what he could teach me flew through my mind.

"That's enough," Mr. Blackbourne's commanding voice cut through my daydreams, and I snapped out of my inappropriate thoughts. It slowly sunk in that everyone had just witnessed me looking at Dr. Sean's lips like that, and I sunk further down into the couch in mortification as they all grinned.

"I...I...," my mind blanked on any excuses I could've used to explain why I'd been staring at Dr. Sean's mouth, but I was saved by Kota as he cleared his throat to get our attention.

"I believe we were at the part where Dave and Molly were getting aroused," Kota supplied helpfully, diverting the attention from me as my cheeks burned.

"Yes. Right you are, Kota!" Dr. Sean nodded, looking down at the mannequins in front of him. "Now we'll go over the signs of arousal. There are universal signs such as dilated pupils, heavy breathing, hooded eyelids. However, we're going to go over the basic differences between men and women. North, could you please share a _medical_ term to signify when a man is aroused?"

"He gets an erection," North answered easily, leaning casually back in his chair which was the polar opposite of my rigid posture.

"Spot on, North," Dr. Sean nodded approvingly.

"Yeah, cause you asked him such a _hard_ one," Gabriel remarked sarcastically, causing Nathan to snort as Luke vibrated with suppressed giggles next to me.

Gabriel was right, though. Even I knew the answer to that one.

"Gentlemen," Dr. Sean chided softly before looking around the room. His eyes zoned in on Victor with a smile. "Ah, Victor, my next victim. What signifies that a woman is aroused?"

"Well, um," Victor cleared his throat next to me, shifting uncomfortably in his seat which just made me even more aware of exactly where our thighs were touching. "Her nipples get...erect. And, uh, I'm not sure what the medical term for it is but she gets...wet."

I squeaked in mortification, covering my mouth with a hand. Luke leaned forward, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

"We had to survive Erica teaching us this stuff, Sang," he whispered in my ear. "Don't be embarrassed. If we could get through that, then you can survive this. We're not doing it to humiliate you; we love you."

I tried to relax at Luke's reassuring words, but the situation just simply wouldn't allow me to.

"Yes, women secrete a natural lubricant," Dr. Sean explained, making me cringe in discomfort. His tone was still professional, but he cleared his throat before looking down at the mannequins in front of him. "Now I'm afraid that we won't be able to simulate Molly's arousal without making an unnecessary mess, but the nipples on this model are permanently erect."

"That's convenient for Dave," Nathan muttered quietly from his spot on the floor in front of North, causing the blonde boy next to me to snigger. Victor remained quiet on my other side, and I knew if I looked over his face would be radiating just as brightly as mine.

"So that leaves Dave to get ready," Dr. Sean continued, not having heard Nathan's remark. "Once Molly and Dave feel that the time is right, they'll start shedding their clothing."

"Trouble is familiar with this part," Gabriel quipped, sending me a wink from his spot on the floor.

"Mr. Coleman, there will be no teasing," Mr. Blackbourne demanded as I covered both cheeks with my hands. "We've already laid out the rules for this session. Now it's time to remain respectful."

Dr. Sean moved in front of the couch and began pulling Molly's floral dress off. I immediately averted my eyes as he struggled a bit with her rigid arms. It didn't matter that she was an inanimate object, Dr. Sean was still _undressing_ her.

"I don't know where they find these clothes," Dr. Sean mumbled disapprovingly, and I watched Molly's dress flutter to the floor as he stepped towards Dave.

"She's got nothing on you, Trouble," Gabriel yawned, leaning back on the floor and patting my foot.

"Are you saying it would be possible for a _mannequin_ to be more attractive than Sang?" Silas asked in disbelief from his spot beside North.

"No, I was making a joke!" Gabriel defended, rolling his eyes.

I don't think I could've responded if I'd wanted to.

I looked up as Dr. Sean stepped away from Dummy Dave, with both his shirt and shorts in hand. After my eyes had automatically zoned in on Dave's nether regions, I immediately averted them to his face.

"Oh damn, Dave went commando," Luke crowed from beside me, letting out a laugh.

"Well, underwear isn't exactly beneficial to this class," Dr. Sean huffed, setting the discarded clothing on the table next to him before moving behind the couch again. "It's also loads more difficult to get _onto_ his body."

"Where's the other half of the cucumber?" Silas called out from his bean bag chair.

Luke snorted as North hit Silas over the back of his head, but my stomach rolled as I forced myself to look at Dave's nether regions for longer than one second. I seriously hoped Silas was joking, because the idea of anything larger than _that_ fitting inside of me made my stomach want to throw up my last three meals. I still had to give myself a pep talk when using mini-sized tampons.

"Mr. Korba, behave," Mr. Blackbourne admonished from his seat next to Kota, on the other side of Luke. I hadn't made eye contact with many of the boys since this lesson started, but my face burned extra bright at the idea of _Mr. Blackbourne_ at a Sex Ed class. Part of me wanted to start giggling just so my nerves could find an outlet.

"Yeah, Silas, leave Dave the fuck alone," Gabriel grinned from his place sprawled on the floor at my feet. His relaxed posture would have suggested that we were enjoying a day at the beach instead of my personal nightmare. "Maybe he wasn't expecting an audience."

"He's not even hard yet, anyways," Nathan said in a voice that sounded like he was _defending_ Dummy Dave while I looked between the boys in confusion. "Chill."

"As Nathan so crudely pointed out, Dummy Dave is indeed still flaccid," Dr. Sean cut in pointedly, causing my lips to twist in distaste at the word as the boys quieted down. "Unfortunately the hospital's budget is limited, so our volunteers aren't as realistic as I would like. However, the mannequin company does have a few...attachments that will aide in our lesson."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me," North groaned, leaning his head back against the chair. "Can't Sang just learn this naturally? Without some freaky plastic shit."

"We're a family, North," Kota spoke up confidently and clearly from his seat. "We're here for Sang, and we do this together."

"I don't want to scar her for life with this shit," North argued, gesturing towards the mannequins and where Dr. Sean was pulling something out of a box. It was flesh colored and...oh.

Oh no, there is no way that would _ever_ fit.

"And with a little turn until we hear a click...there! Dummy Dave now has an erection, and both of our volunteers are ready for intercourse," Dr. Sean smiled proudly as his hand moved up, clasping Dave on the shoulder again. My eyes refused to wander from Dummy Dave's shoulder as Victor shifted next to me.

"Now that Dummy Dave and Mannequin Molly's bodies are prepared, we need to make sure they're taking the appropriate measures to stay safe during their sexual adventures," Dr. Sean explained and returned to his box.

"Oh god, please don't pull out a banana," Victor muttered quietly beside me, his voice sounding slightly strangled. I tried to overcome my uncomfortableness and gently patted his hand in reassurance but he jumped at the contact. I retracted my hand as his blush deepened.

"Sorry," I mumbled, keeping both hands clasped tightly in my lap.

"No, you're fine. I was just surprised," Victor assured me, but I noticed that his hand made no move to reach for mine. I risked a glance and saw them both clasped tightly in his lap as well.

"Now, one method of safe sex is to use a condom," Dr. Sean continued while he turned around from the box, and I tilted my head curiously as he pulled something shiny out of the pocket on his Doctor's coat. I'd heard of condoms before, but I still wasn't exactly sure what they were.

And what did Dr. Sean mean by _safe_ sex? Was there a...dangerous kind?

As my mind drifted off into a daydream of North insisting I wore a helmet before we became intimate, I distantly heard Dr. Sean's voice continue lecturing.

"Sang?" My eyes blinked rapidly as a hand waved in front of my face a few minutes later and interrupted my venturing thoughts. "You still with us, Cupcake?"

"Yes, sorry," I apologized softly, the once fading blush coming back full force as I realized what I'd been daydreaming about. "What...what did I miss?"

"A lovely little lecture on STDs, Miss Sang," Dr. Sean smiled, still holding the sparkly foil square in his hand. "But I included that information in a packet for you to take home, so you can read up and ask me any questions you think of."

"Okay," I agreed quickly, my eyes still focused on the square in his hand. "Are you going to show us what that does?"

"W-what?" Dr. Sean faltered, his eyes flickering between the packet and my face as everyone else's reactions caused me to jump in surprise. North and Silas immediately started protesting, while Victor broke into a coughing fit next to me and I quickly began rubbing his back soothingly while Dr. Sean continued to uncharacteristically stutter. "You w-want me to show you what a condom does?"

"Isn't that why you brought it?" I asked self-consciously, cautiously looking around the room to see the boys with expressions ranging from shock to stifled laughter. Worried I'd crossed some invisible line, I couldn't bring myself to look at Mr. Blackbourne. "What?"

"Sang, sweetie, are you sure you know what you're asking to see?" Kota asked hesitantly as he leaned forward in his chair to look at me.

"Nevermind," I shook my head quickly, regretting my curiosity and vowing to be silent for the rest of this lesson.

"No, Sang!" Dr. Sean stepped in quickly, shaking his own head. "I had simply brought this one as a prop for lecturing purposes, thinking the practical demonstration would make you uncomfortable. But you're right, this is a Sexual Education class. Most of them do have condom demonstrations."

"No, you don't have to," I assured him quickly, wanting to move onto the next topic and hopefully get this lesson over with. I could just google condoms later. "I just wanted to know what they did."

The room was dead silent for a moment, and at first I was happy that we weren't arguing until I realized everyone was staring at me.

"Sang," Victor spoke softly, hesitantly from beside me. "You don't know what a condom is?"

"I've heard the word before," I assured him, my brows knitting in confusion. I didn't want them to think I was stupid. "Mostly in some of the movies we've watched. Something about it...breaking?"

"Oh god, now I feel even more guilty for all the dirty thoughts I've had about her," North grumbled to nobody in particular, rubbing a palm against his strong jaw.

"I, um, what," I started to stutter, my mouth becoming exceedingly dry.

"Moving on," Dr. Sean interrupted, saving me from embarrassing myself further. "Yes, a condom demonstration will be very helpful. Ah, Sang?"

"Yes, Dr. Sean?" I mumbled self-consciously, hoping he wouldn't ask me any more questions about things I didn't know.

"Why don't you come up here, Pumpkin?" Dr. Sean asked, looking a little unsure himself. "I don't want to put you on the spot, but I want to make sure you understand this part. We can wait until after the lesson, if you want."

"No, now works," I shook my head, standing up on shaky legs. I was determined to get this over as quickly as possible. Extra tutoring after class was not ideal.

"Now, Pookie, you can say 'no,' okay?" Dr. Sean said, making me nervous before he even explained what we were doing. "I've already told you how much I love a hands-on approach, but I truly do think this will be an educational and productive way for you to learn about condoms."

"Okay," I blindly agreed, unsure of where this was going. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to explain to you how condoms work, then you'll do the practical demonstration," Dr. Sean explained, gesturing with the sparkly square packet.

"Fuck no!" North protested, jumping up from his chair. "What are you playing at, Doc? You can't do this shit to Sang."

"This is inappropriate, Dr. Green," Mr. Blackbourne agreed as my eyes widened at North. He looked ready to explode. "We're here for lecturing purposes, not to make Miss Sorenson perform demonstrations. We're trying to make her as comfortable as possible, not embarrass her."

"Relax, guys," Dr. Sean sighed in exasperation. "Can we consider the medical side of this for a moment. It'll be beneficial for Sang to learn this."

"Why will she need to learn?" Nathan asked in confusion. "We'll roll the condoms on. Sang won't need to worry about that."

My head tilted in question, but Nathan didn't explain further.

"You eight can continue to keep Sang in the dark about this stuff, but it's important for her to be knowledgeable and confident in these situations. I'm going to teach her this," Dr. Sean spoke firmly, not leaving room for any further arguments.

"I want to learn," I spoke softly to the room, backing up Dr. Sean's words. I didn't want to disagree with the other boys, but I didn't want any more secrets between us. There were enough of those from the Academy. Sexual Education wasn't Academy related, it was something I could be included in.

"Alright, Sang," Dr. Sean smiled charmingly, reaching down for my hand and placing the foil packet in my palm. "Go ahead and open that up. Be careful to just open along the edge, so you don't rip the actual condom."

"Okay," I nodded, that sounded easy enough. I gripped the edges and slowly ripped off the top of the packet. Dr. Sean nodded in approval as I pulled out slightly yellow, almost clear colored circle. It felt almost slimy, and my nose wrinkled as I touched it.

"What now?" I asked curiously, looking up at Dr. Sean for further instructions. His eyes were focused on the condom in my hand before he flinched and looked back up at me.

"Now, ah, now you can roll the condom onto Dummy Dave's erection," Dr. Sean instructed as my eyes widened.

"Doc, you can't do this!" North raged, and I avoided looking at his face because I could just imagine how furious it was.

"North, sit down," Dr. Sean ordered. While his voice didn't have the same leadership quality as Mr. Blackbourne's or Kota's, he rarely ordered us to do anything so it was more intimidating than ever. "All of you will remain quiet until the demonstration is completed. No inappropriate remarks or unhelpful commentaries."

"I, wait, what?" I spluttered, turning around to face Dummy Dave behind me. I involuntarily glanced down at his new attachment, standing tall and high, before looking back up at Dr. Sean. "Roll it?"

"Condoms are a form of birth control," Dr. Sean continued smoothly. "They stop the sperm in a man's ejaculation from entering the woman's vaginal canal and impregnating her."

"Oh," I exclaimed, looking down at the latex circle in my hand. This little thing stopped girls from getting pregnant?

"It's not foolproof," Dr. Sean added, frowning slightly as he motioned me towards Dummy Dave. "It's recommended that women take an additional form of birth control, but condoms are a start. Now I want you to pinch the very tip of the condom, place it atop Dave's erection with the coiled edges facing outward, and roll it down until the condom is fully positioned."

"Okay," I squeaked slightly, holding the condom with the tips of my fingers. It felt weird, and I didn't want to touch any more of it.

"Don't worry, Sang," Dr. Sean said softly, his lips quirking up on both sides. "This isn't a test, and you aren't being graded."

His assurances calmed me a little, and I took a deep breath before looking back at Dummy Dave. I took a deep breath, figuratively biting the bullet and quickly placing down the condom.

Once the condom was situated on top of Dummy Dave's...thing, I was especially careful while rolling it down the length of him. I knew from personal experience by accidentally kneeing the guys when getting up from their laps that this part of a boy's anatomy was very sensitive. I made sure to just touch it lightly as I rolled the condom down with care. Once I was finished, I smiled with undeserved pride as I flattened my hand out over the condom to rub out a few wrinkles and make sure it was smooth.

A quiet groan sounded behind me before a loud _thwack,_ and I looked over my shoulder to see Nathan rubbing the back of his head.

"What?" Nathan snapped at North sourly.

"Don't disrespect Sang Baby, man," North grumbled from his spot leaning back on the couch.

"How was I disrespecting her?" Nathan asked in disbelief. "That was fucking hot."

"Sang, great job," Dr. Sean praised me, clearing his throat slightly when his voice came out deeper than usual. "But may I ask what you're doing now?"

"I'm getting the wrinkles out," I answered, blushing when I realized my hand was still holding Dave's nether regions. I quickly let go and stood up straight, flattening down my skirt. "There were some air bubbles."

"Ah, very intuitive," Dr. Sean nodded, gesturing back to the couch. "You can move back to your seat. Thank you, Pumpkin. And Sang is correct, everyone. Air bubbles can increase the risk of a popped condom."

Oh, I didn't know that.

"Sang, you look confused," Dr. Sean's eyes watched me with concern. "Isn't that why you rubbed, um...flattened it out?"

"No, I just wanted him to be comfortable," I shrugged, feeling stupid for caring about an inanimate object's feelings.

"That was very considerate of you, Cupcake," Luke said appreciatively from beside me.

"I believe it's about time to wrap this up, Dr. Green," Mr. Blackbourne spoke from the side, standing up and walking towards a coffee cart in the corner of the room. My eyes tracked his polished loafers, but I couldn't work myself up to looking any higher. "You have about five minutes until a few of the boys need to leave for their shifts at the diner."

"Alright, paperwork and question time!" Dr. Sean exclaimed with a grin, heading back towards his box and rummaging through it for a moment. "My favorite part."

Dr. Sean pulled out a stack of papers and started handing them out down the line. When he got to me, Sean handed me a folder and small stack of pamphlets with a wink.

"These are some educational readings that you can take home with you and read over," Sean explained as he handed Luke a folder and continued on to Kota. "You can follow up at any time with questions.

I fanned through a pamphlet, seeing pictures of things that looked like tadpoles and oddly shaped balloons.

"Do you have any questions, Pookie?" Dr. Sean asked lightly and with a warm smile. "About anything I went over, or anything in the readings. In fact, anything at all!"

I looked down at the pamphlet in my hand, glancing over some diagrams and pictures. I was a little less embarrassed at this point, but still anxious to leave.

"Nope," I answered quickly with a shake of my head.

"Pookie," Dr. Sean said warningly, narrowing his eyes slightly when I risked a glance up. "Just hit me with one question, sweetheart. Let me know what's going on inside that wonderful, big brain of yours."

I sighed, risking a glance at Kota who just nodded encouragingly. It looks like they were determined for me to ask at least one question. I bit my lip lightly, quickly flipping through the pamphlet and trying to find a term or chart I didn't recognize. At the back of the book, I noticed something unfamiliar and sagged slightly with relief.

"What's anal sex?" I asked curiously, internally wondering if it had to do with staying clean while making love.

The room went eerily quiet when I asked, until the sound of Mr. Blackbourne's coffee mug crashing against the floor and shattering into a thousand pieces broke the silence.

Dr. Sean confiscated my pamphlet a moment later and quietly said it was time for everyone to take an ice cream break.

 **A/N: I know Sang has read her fair share of romance novels, but that's not going to be a part of this story. :) It's more fun for me like this.**

 **I considered ending this one with Sang saying something cute about making love, and the boys getting all romantic - but then this ending happened.**


	9. Independent Study

**~ A little mature ~  
**

 **A/N: Ugh- SORRY! I keep checking to make sure the coding isn't populating...but it somehow adds itself later. Not sure why. :( Copy/pasting is screwing things up somehow.  
**

 **Independent Study**

"Can I...would it be alright if I tried to...," I started to say, but my voice trailed off again as I lost my nerve.

"Try what, Sang?" Kota asked, giving me a puzzled look. His hands were gripping my hips as I straddled him, and I loved the look of Kota's hair all messy and mussed against the pillow. It sent a thrill straight through me as his swollen slips smiled up at me with their usual warmth.

It was all the motivation I needed to carry on.

"Would you mind if I tried to...to give you a blowjob?" I asked, my voice rising to an involuntarily high pitch as I pushed the question out. My eyes averted to his bare stomach, that small dash of confidence gone as I could only imagine the look in his eyes.

"Sang?" Kota's strangled voice shot straight to my heart, the shock thick in his tone.

"Kota," I whispered back, bringing my fingers up to nervously play with the hem of his boxers. I couldn't believe I'd actually asked that.

My cheeks burned.

"Sang, sweetie," Kota choked out, reaching out and grabbing my hands, moving them away from his boxers. "I can't focus when you do that."

"Sorry," I murmured, my eyes trailing over his chest as it rose and fell heavily.

"Sang, do you really...want to do that?" Kota asked, clearing his throat as he moved slowly into a sitting position, his hands moving to my hips and causing me to scoot back slightly so I was sitting on his thighs.

"I want to try," I answered quietly, and one of Kota's hands came up to grasp my chin. He pulled it up, bringing my eyes up to meet his own wide, green orbs.

"This is really something you _want_ to do?" Kota repeated, meeting my gaze with a grim expression. "You don't feel forced or pressured?"

"No, never," my head automatically began shaking on its own accord. "You guys would never pressure me to do anything."

Kota's shoulders slumped, the relief obvious in his face as he regarded me warily.

"Sang, sweetie. If you want to, there's no way I would ever say no to you," Kota assured me like it was obvious. "God, you asking that is literally a dream come true to me; you have no idea. But I don't want you to do something just because you thinks it's normal or what we're supposed to be doing."

"That's not why I want to," I denied, shaking my head again and placing my hands on his bare chest. I tried to fight down my blush, but it seemed to be permanently attached to my face. "I want to because it seems...interesting. And I want to see if it makes you feel good."

"Sang, there is no doubt in my mind it'll feel good. Kissing you makes me feel good," Kota snorted slightly, smiling at me. "I could lay in this bed and kiss you forever, and I'd be absolutely satisfied."

"So you're not...curious?" I asked, feeling slightly dejected even as Kota made butterflies sore in my stomach from his affirmations.

"Oh Sang, 'curious' isn't the right now," Kota shook his head, looking at me incredulously. "You have no idea how attracted I am to you, and just how much even talking about this turns me on."

My eyes bugged out as Kota seemed to hesitate a moment before taking one of my hands and trailing it from his chest down to the front of his boxers.

My heart jolted as I cupped him, feeling something very similar to Dummy Dave's appendage but also _very_ different.

It was warm.

And soft.

But hard at the same time.

This was overwhelming.

"So that's a yes?" I whispered, just to make sure.

"Sang," Kota laughed in disbelief, giving me a heart stopping smile. "That's a 'you-can-do-whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-me. I promise. Anything."

"Okay," was all I could say as I waited for my heart to start up again. "Well, um..."

My hand was still on his bulge, his own hand over mine as we sat there.

"Sang, I'm going to be completely honest with you," Kota rushed out, his other hand gripping my hip tightly. His hand between tightened around mine, too, before he cursed under his breath and loosened it. "I've never done this before. I'm most likely going to embarrass myself in ten seconds flat."

"Kota, I've never done this either," I assured him, stating the obvious. I was trying to follow our conversation and reassure him, but my mind seemed to be solely focused on my left hand and what it was holding. I felt it twitching beneath me, but I had no idea it could move like that.

"Right," Kota said, clearing his throat as he shifted slightly. "Sang, can you stop looking at it, please? You're making me nervous."

"What?" I asked distantly, before realizing that I'd been staring down between our laps for the past minute. My head shot up to look at Kota. "Sorry!"

"No, it's fine," he let out a breathless laugh, those brilliant green eyes boring into mine. I saw the cautiousness there, but also the love and desire. "So...how do you want to start this?"

"Um," I glanced down between us again at his very excited appendage before looking back up at his hooded eyes and swollen lips. He looked absolutely appetizing. "We could start making out again?"

It sounded silly and adolescent as it came out of my mouth. But Kota and I both broke into giggles, and some of the tension dissolved. It was just me and Kota. I had no reason to worry or be nervous.

"Okay," Kota agreed, smiling again as he leaned in. His hand brought mine back up to his chest, trading one warmth for another. As his lips whispered across mine in a featherlight touch, I felt both his hands settle on the tops of my thighs. I pushed our lips closer together, sliding both of my hands up his chest and around his neck. Kota took the invitation, moving a hand to my lower back and sliding me up his lap until our chests were flush against each other and our lips fused together. It also brought our more intimate parts together, and Kota's warmth seemed to radiate through the rest of my body.

Kota's tongue slipped into my mouth, and I opened for him, bringing my hands up to trace the shells of his ears. His answering shiver was exhilarating as he explored my mouth.

After a few more minutes of enjoying Kota's kisses, I ran out of any patience I had left.

Trailing my hands down from Kota's neck, I slid them down his chest. The way he groaned and pressed himself closer to me was enough to make my body shake uncontrollably in response.

"Sang," Kota murmured against my lips before peppering my jaw with kisses and moving to my ear. My earlobe was sucked into his mouth as my fingers found the hem of his boxers, a moan escaping my throat.

Then I ran into our first roadblock. Dr. Sean didn't go over the specifics in his lesson. Was Kota supposed to be sitting for this? Laying down? Standing?

"Kota," I breathed out, swallowing thickly as he continued to suck on my earlobe. "Kota, h-how do you want to do this?"

"What?" Kota asked after letting my earlobe go with a slight _pop._ "What do you mean how?"

"Like should you be standing? Or laying down?" I asked unsurely, leaning back slightly to look at him. My eyelids felt unbelievably heavy as our gazes met.

"Um, I don't know," Kota answered quietly, seeming to weigh the options himself.

"How about standing?" I asked, picking one randomly as I was anxious to get this started.

"Sure," Kota agreed quickly, and we scrambled to get off the bed. Kota's hands found my hips as I was sliding off the side, and I was amused to see that he was still being the helpful gentleman.

And I was about to lick his penis.

"Okay, so, you stand here," I instructed, pointing to where Kota was already positioned. "And I'll...kneel here."

With my cheeks on fire, I quickly sank down to my knees in front of Kota, unable to stop myself from pushing a finger up to my lower lip.

"Sang, if you don't want-"

"I want to," I answered quickly, eyeing his tented boxers in front of me. "Um, should I...?"

I trailed off, gesturing to Kota's boxers. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to undress him or wait for him to. I couldn't picture him taking my panties off without me giving the 'okay,' so I wanted to give him the same consideration.

"I got it," Kota rushed out, slipping his boxers off faster than I could see, stumbling slightly on his right foot.

I wanted to giggle at his enthusiasm, but I had also learned that boys could have very sensitive egos when their equipment was involved. I know I'd die of mortification if Kota laughed after taking off my panties.

Plus, this was the unveiling. It was a fragile moment in our relationship.

I was mentally trying to give myself a pep talk to look at it, when I realized I was already staring right at it.

Kota was standing up again, shifting slightly on his feet as I looked right at his thing.

It was about eye level with me, standing tall and proud. Prouder than even Kota was currently standing.

I knew I was supposed to say something. I tried to form words, maybe a compliment or tasteful innuendo, but I was too busy staring at it.

It looked nothing like Dummy Dave's. It was...weird.

The silence continued, and I grasped for anything to say.

"There it is," I finally blurted out when the silence had stretched far too long. I was uncomfortable, but not with the situation itself. I wanted to do this, I just had no idea how. My hands felt awkward. Was I supposed to just grab it? Or did this not involve hands?

"Yep," Kota managed to choke out, and I felt like a volcano waiting to erupt with nervous giggles. My hands started to shake as I tried to hold it in. Kota's hand came down and wrapped around himself, a seemingly involuntary gesture before he jerked his hand back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to...um. Are you okay, Sang?"

"I...I feel like it's looking at me," I whispered hesitantly. It was a little scary.

It was staring right at me, like a big eyeball on an adjustable arm.

"Do I lick it?" I asked, suddenly unsure. I wasn't positive about my hands' involvement, but I was pretty sure this involved tongue.

"Oh god, Sang," his voice was strangled before he cleared his throat. "Are you trying to torture me?"

"I just...I don't want to mess up," I admitted softly, cocking my head while continuing to examine his nether regions. It was such an odd shape. Fascinating. "Dr. Sean didn't really go through the logistics during our class."

"Trust me, Sang, nothing you do could mess this up. Hell, you could probably bite it off and I'd still be the happiest guy on earth," Kota assured me.

"Biting..." I trailed off, leaning closer to get a better look as Kota cursed under his breath. North liked biting, did that mean...? "Does that feel good? Biting it?"

" _No_!" he grimaced, shaking his head adamantly. The movement shook something else as well, and my eyes followed it side-to-side with interest. "No, it doesn't. I was just...okay, maybe we should talk about this first."

"I kind of understand what happens," I defended myself, scooting closer to him and biting my lip in concentration. I was determined to do this right. Might as well stick with the basics first. "I can do this. It's called a blowjob. So that just means I blow on it, right? Can't be too hard."

"Uhh, Sang. That's not really-"

I gently blew on the tip, where a bit of liquid dripped out.

"Holy shi-" Kota gasped, his hand coming back to wrap around his base.

"Oh my gosh! Are you peeing?" I asked in alarm, watching the little liquid come out of the tip.

"What?" Kota asked in disbelief.

"You've got...um, a few drops of pee came out," I explained, sitting back on my heels and pointing towards him.

"Oh god, maybe we should stop this. You should talk to Doc, he needs to explain some more things," Kota said, reaching down for his boxers before slipping them back on.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked in confusion.

"No, Ten, trust me. You're perfect," Kota assured me, pulling me against his chest in a warm embrace.

"So why did we stop?" I pressed, slipping my arms around his waist. His little friend was still poking against my stomach, so I knew at least _he_ wanted to continue.

"Because I don't think I could've lasted another fives seconds, and you hadn't even touched me yet," Kota explained, running his fingers through my hair as he held me. "It would've been an awful first experience for you, and Nate would never let me live that down."

"Kota, I don't care about how fast it happens-"

"I'm going to talk to Dr. Green with you first, okay? I'll make a list of things to discuss with him, and then I won't freak out too much next time," Kota interrupted gently, placing a lingering kiss on my forehead.

I huffed, but nodded.

It was a good first try, at least.

I'll be ready for the next one.

 **A/N: I'm not sure where this one came from, but I'm not going to apologize for it.**


	10. Double-O-Seven

**Double-O-Seven**

"Meanie, stop it!" I whined while fidgeting on the counter, unbelievably tempted to give him the biggest pout in the entire history of all pouts.

"Shut it, Trouble! And stop fucking wiggling. This shit is impossible to clean off if it gets on your skin," he warned me, the lipstick in his hand poised like a weapon in front of me. "And put that lip back in."

I may have pouted a tiny bit.

"I don't see why it's such a big deal," I argued, wanting to get off this stupid counter and join the other boys in Victor's room. I could hear their laughter through the bathroom door and it made my stomach squirm as I felt like a toddler in time out.

"It's a huge fucking deal!" Gabriel exclaimed, putting the lipstick down and grabbing my cheeks. He squished them together, making my lips pucker into a fish face before I squealed and pulled away. "This is your first official mission, Trouble. I spent hours looking for the perfect outfit, so don't you fucking dare tell me it isn't a big deal."

"Gabriel," I said his name cautiously, looking down at my outfit and back up at him unsurely. "I'm wearing all black. This couldn't have taken _hours_."

"That's not just _any_ black, Sang!" Gabriel gaped at me, looking so offended I glanced back down at my attire to make sure I hadn't missed something. Nope, still black. "In fact, the only part of your outfit that's actually black are the fucking socks, and that's only because Mr. B didn't want me to buy something you already had. I can't fucking work with that man sometimes!"

"Gabriel," I repeated, my confusion only growing as I pointed at my shirt. "My shirt is black, and so are my pants, shoes, and hat."

"That's not black, Trouble," Gabriel shook his head tiredly, leaning forward to place his hands on my hips and tugging lightly on the shirt fabric. "This shirt? It's ebony, and it looks fucking amazing on you. Do you know how impossible it is to find a spandex tank top with a sweetheart neckline? It took me forty minutes to find that one, and a manager even tried to kick me out of the store."

"But shouldn't I be wearing a turtleneck-" I started to ask, but Gabriel planted a finger on my lips. He nudged me lightly, tugging my hip towards him and I hopped off the counter.

"These pants?" Gabriel cut me off, removing the finger and sliding his hands around to cup my backside lightly. I blushed slightly at his forwardness, but couldn't hide the smile forming on my lips. Gabriel's lips broadened into a grin, but his eyes didn't lose their serious light. "Café noir, and I'm going to be honest with you. Those fuckers in Victor's room are probably going to be staring at your pretty ass all night from the way these pants hug it. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm fucking not."

I just shook my head and smiled at him.

"And this hat! This bloody hat!" Gabriel cried, giving my bottom a quick squeeze before bringing his hands up to snake through the loose hair underneath my hat. He tugged lightly, and my head leaned back to look up at him. Gabriel wasn't that much taller than me, and I had the perfect view of his beautiful blue eyes from this angle. Their sparkle was hypnotizing, and I tried not to get lost in them. "The only ski hats left over from Winter were brown and orange ones. Or fucking ugly puke green. I had to nab this one from the men's section at a ski store because all of the girl ones were bright and sparkly."

"You're wonderful, Gabriel," I blurted out, feeling completely overwhelmed by the passion and thought he put into a simple outfit for me, even if it still looked black to me. I took it all for granted.

"Shush, Trouble," Gabriel ordered as he rolled his eyes, but I saw a light blush tint his cheeks. He gave my lips a quick peck before stepping back and grabbing a comb off the counter. I hopped back on the counter, realizing he was ready to get back to work. "And don't even get me started on those shoes! Victor already made enough ignorant comments when we were at the mall..."

I listened to Gabriel ramble on about the shopping trip as he styled the hair that wasn't covered by my hat, but my mind kept drifting back to the mission tonight. My first _official_ mission as an Academy member! It was surreal.

And a little intimidating.

Okay, a lot intimidating.

I slowly moved both hands behind my back to hide their slight shaking.

"How's it going in there?" Victor's voice floated through the door as we heard a light knock.

"Almost done!" Gabriel called back before murmuring under his breath about hats and bobby pins. "Alright, Trouble. You ready for this?"

"Um, yes," I nodded, taking a deep breath and grabbing Gabriel's offered hand. He helped me off the counter before squeezing lightly and letting go. I didn't even have a moment to glance at the mirror before he was ushering me through the bathroom door.

"Shouldn't we be hiding her hair?" Nathan asked as soon as we appeared, and I turned to see him eyeing the hair that was loose around my shoulders.

"I did everything else you fuckers asked!" Gabriel argued, grabbing my hand and squeezing tightly. "You know how much I hate Trouble's hair up, so you can give me this one fucking thing tonight."

I wasn't sure if I should feel offended by that, but I didn't have the heart to argue.

"Gabe, it's not-"

"I think we'll all be worried enough tonight," Gabriel cut Nathan off calmly, but his grip didn't loosen on my hand. "I don't need the weight of Sang getting hat hair on my shoulders all night."

Nathan sighed before turning back to Kota, who cleared his throat.

"Let's go over the preparation one last time," Kota ordered, sending me a warm smile as he motioned to the empty beanbag chair across from him. Gabriel pulled me over, sinking down in the seat and pulling me in after him. "We just went over everyone else's parts, but I'll give you two a brief overview. Victor?"

"I'll be in the van," Victor explained, meeting my eyes with his burning ones. "We already set up surveillance around the house, and I'll be monitoring all of you. I'll also have the central comm for any emergencies."

"North?" Kota called after nodding approvingly at Victor.

"Silas and I will be on extraction in the SUV," North explained, fixing me with a look. "If at any moment you need to get out of there, either run to my car on the Southeast block corner or have Luke get you there."

"Nathan?" Kota prompted next with another nod.

"I'm on lookout with Gabe," Nathan answered seriously. "I'll be across the street from the front entrance, with a view of both the garage and side entrance. I'll see if anyone comes or goes."

"And I'll be in the backyard, in that travesty of a forest they have," Gabriel added in, and Kota nodded.

"Luke?" He asked, turning towards the golden-haired boy lounging across from me.

"Sang and I are on extraction," he flashed me a charming grin. "We got the best gig!"

Kota rolled his eyes pointing at the blueprint in front of us.

"Everyone know their starting positions and all available escape routes?" He asked, tapping the table with a finger.

We all nodded, and I remembered the hours I'd gone over the blueprints and house structure with Luke. We'd planned two dozen escape routes, despite it being a two story house with three doors to the outside.

"So, what are we retrieving?" I asked, looking up from the blueprints and into Kota's eyes. This mission was so finely crafted, but they still hadn't told me what we were actually after.

"Umm," Kota looked suddenly uncomfortable as he avoided making eye contact with me. Heat was creeping up his neck, and I noticed one of his feet shuffling slightly as he stared intently at the floor. "That's not really important, Sang. Luke will grab the item, and he knows what to look for."

I snuck a glance at Luke, who was grinning like a fool, before looking back at Kota in confusion.

"Why won't you tell me?" I asked, doubt crawling into my mind. I was finally in the Academy. We all trusted each other; I thought the time for secrets was over. "You don't trust me?"

"Sang, no!" Kota said quickly, and it was almost drowned out by the sound of the other boys voicing their own assurances. "It's not that. I just don't want you to feel..."

He trailed off with a grimace, as if unsure how to finish what I might feel if I wasn't ignorant.

"Is it...sexual?" I asked in a hushed voice, staring determinedly at Kota as I felt a blush rise up the back of my neck. I turned a brighter red as the rest of the boys burst into laughter, but Kota graced me with a small smile as he shook his head.

"No, Sang, it isn't," he assured me. "What gave you that idea?"

"Well, Luke just looks incredibly too happy for some reason," I explained, pointing at Luke who was still shaking with silent laughter. "And I figured it must be something that would make me uncomfortable if you were hiding it from me."

"Oh, Cupcake, you're precious!" Luke called from the couch, sending me a broad grin and a wink. I snuck my tongue out at him before turning expectantly back to Kota.

"Does the retrieval item have anything to do with the reason you boys aren't freaking out right now?" I asked bluntly.

"Freaking out?" He echoed, both brows scrunching in confusion.

"Yes, this is my first real mission and you guys are so calm," I reasoned, looking at each of them as I spoke. "I half-expected North to roll a life-sized hamster-ball into the room to put me in. I'd like to say it's because you trust me and my abilities, but I know that's not it."

"Sang baby, you know we trust your abilities. You blew us away at bootcamp," North said, looking at me so intently I lost my train of thought for a moment. "You wouldn't have been able to join the Academy if we didn't fully trust you."

"North, yesterday you got nervous when I was jumping on the trampoline," I sighed, shaking my head at him. "Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Sean aren't even here, which means it can't be that bad. So what's different about this mission? What are we getting?"

"Okay, Sang. You're right," Kota agreed slowly, saying the words cautiously but I could see his brain working quickly behind his horn-rimmed glasses. "It may not be a dangerous mission, but that doesn't mean it isn't important."

"So what is it?" I pressed, shifting to fold my legs underneath me on the couch.

"It's a personal request from the Head of the Academy himself," Kota admitted, his lips pursed as he watched for my reaction. I blinked a few times, but nodded at him to continue. The Head would have known this was my first mission. What did he expect me to do? Was this a trick? Mr. Blackbourne had warned me that the Academy would continue to test us well after bootcamp. "He wants us to...well...you see, he has a granddaughter."

"Was she kidnapped?" I gasped, my hands flying out to grip Silas and Victor on either side of me.

"No, no," Victor reassured me quickly, prying my fingers off of his arm and gently intertwining them with his. Silas didn't even flinch as I relaxed my grip on him. "She's fine, Princess."

"The request did come about due to his granddaughter, though," Kota continued slowly. He looked so uncomfortable, I wanted to reach out and hold him.

"Okay," I said, trying to figure out what in the world we would be retrieving. "If she wasn't kidnapped, then what's going on? Has someone taken photos of her or something? We need to get another camera?"

I glanced at Luke who was grinning back at me, both of us remembering our first "date" when we broke into a house to get an Academy camera back. Hopefully tonight wouldn't include being shot at.

"Not quite," Kota mumbled, taking a deep breath before looking back at me. "Don't take this the wrong way, Sang. Okay? This mission is still important. It's a Priority Two because it came from the Head, and he's giving us each a favor for it."

"Just tell me, Kota!" I sighed, slouching back against the couch. I was all out of guesses.

"Alright! Well, the Head's granddaughter had a friend from preschool come over for a playdate on Tuesday," Kota began explaining, folding his hands in front of himself and standing with his shoulders straight. "They got along well for a few hours until the boy's mom came to pick him up. That night, the granddaughter realized that something was missing. She was upset, but eventually went to sleep fine. The next day at school, said boy shows up with her belonging. He refuses to give it back, and has since hidden it at his home."

"If he took something of hers, why doesn't the Head or the girl's parents just talk to the boy's parents?" I asked, confused as to why this even became a mission. Confrontation and problem solving are good life skills to learn. "Having the boy apologize and return whatever he took would be a life lesson for him."

"That's what we thought, too, Sang," Silas rumbled next to me as he slid an arm on top of the couch behind my head. "Unfortunately, the boy's parents think they're raising an angel. They don't believe he stole it."

"Okay," I nodded, biting my lip lightly as I processed the information. Looking back up at Kota, I asked again, "So what exactly did he take that we're getting back?"

"A rubber duck."


End file.
